explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1890: What to Bring

2021-11-17T10:39:14Z

Magic9mushroom:

Presumably water in a gun fight _might_ work if the guns involved are particularly old fashioned (e.g. see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintlock Flintlock]) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.55|162.158.154.55]] 06:35, 15 September 2017 (UTC) A flintlock style uses a metal 'frizzen' which hinges over the 'pan' into which the priming power is placed. This not only protects the powder from the weather (and a splash), but also keep the powder in the pan as the firearm is moved about. When the mechanism is fired, the flint comes striking down on the surface of the frizzen which both opens the cover and directs sparks into the pan. The type of firearm that might be made inactive with a splash of water is an older design called the matchlock which held a lit cord or match in a mechanism over the open pan. The gun is fired by allowing the match to fall into the pan and detonating the powder.
:Water in a gun fight would also work if the guns are water guns or if the fight is against the Wicked Witch of the West [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.198|172.68.65.198]] 15:09, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

I see that bringing a lid to a knife or gun fight might serve as some sort of a shield? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.66|141.101.107.66]] 06:52, 15 September 2017 (UTC)
:It'd work quite well against a knife (even if the knife penetrated the shield, it still wouldn't be able to get to any part of your body except the hand holding the shield, and it'd quite likely get stuck), but not against a gun (you ''can'' make metal thick enough and strong enough to resist gunfire, but pot lids are kind of obviously not designed for that, and they're generally not big enough to confuse an opponent about where your body is either). [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 10:39, 17 November 2021 (UTC)

If your lid is big enough, you can extinguish a wood fire too [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.240|141.101.105.240]] 09:50, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

Is this Randall being political about the situation with North Korea? Maybe I'm reading too much into it, although the world would probably be a better place if more people (and countries) followed the tag text. [[User:Fluppeteer|Fluppeteer]] ([[User talk:Fluppeteer|talk]]) 10:29, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

But what if... you bring a wood fire... TO A KNIFE FIGHT?! Also, I'm not the only person thinking about BOTW's lowest-defense shield, am I? [[User:OriginalName|OriginalName]] ([[User talk:OriginalName|talk]]) 11:24, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

US Military personnel use "lid" as a euphemism for their uniform hat. I think that interpretation is represented in the drawing for "lid to a knife fight". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.201|162.158.74.201]] 12:57, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

Using a gun to extinguish fire probably was influenced by this official tweet of a sheriff 5 days ago [https://mobile.twitter.com/pascosheriff/status/906712903868469249 "To clarify, DO NOT shoot weapons @ #Irma. You won't make it turn around & it will have very dangerous side effects"], which was necessary after stupid people started to try to fight the hurricane with guns. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.94|172.68.110.94]] 15:23, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

The sentence "which often come with lids suited to making an airtight seal" is inaccurate. Lids don't form an airtight seal, and airtightness is not necessary to extinguish a pan fire.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 23:58, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

The phrase "don't bring a knife to a gun fight" is not a statement of general naive lack of preparation, but is specifically used to advocate literal firearms as a means of defense over literal knives. The "gun fight" refers to encounters with armed criminals who, the phrase suggests, will still use their gun to your disadvantage whether or not you are capable of fighting back. It has been subverted occasionally as an implied threat (usually in drama rather than reality) when the situation is reversed, i.e. the criminal is armed with a knife and the would-be victim is armed with a gun. The violence implied by "a gun fight" tends to restrict more metaphorical use of the phrase. The title text seems to be based in the original meaning, with the implication that Randall expects a gun being used against an armed criminal to escalate violence. {{unsigned ip|162.158.74.231|20:08, 16 September 2017}}
:Struggling to work out whether this comment is tongue in cheek, or for real.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.32|162.158.155.32]] 16:31, 18 September 2017 (UTC)
:Hmmm... Since I don't see the humour in this comment if it was meant as a joke, and trolling is just pointless, I'm going to go ahead and treat it as a serious comment. No. Just no. A literal knife to a literal gun fight would be where the saying came from, but even then only as a metaphor or simile, as an issue easily understood. It should be obvious to anyone who knows how guns work that the gun would have an almost complete advantage. The saying actually means being on unequal footing in some conflict, where the person being warned is trying to attack or go against someone who is better prepared. The stereotypical jock trying to argue a point against the captain of the debate team (presumably the captain being the most experienced at making logical well-reasoned arguments, and as such would have no problem winning such an argument). A brand new private in the army challenging a multi-stipe sargeant to a fist fight (presumably anyone who has risen to the rank of sargeant and gained several stripes besides is quite experienced at fighting). A child challenging an Olympic medalist to a race (besides being an adult, presumably someone who has won a medal has tremendous ability at whatever kind of race this is). "Bringing a knife to a gunfight" is a common SAYING to describe such situations. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:01, 19 September 2017 (UTC)

Just noticed that the comic on xkcd got a little correction: The "Water to a knife fight" Cueball was missing an arm. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.202|162.158.202.202]] 23:12, 17 September 2017 (UTC)
:Here's still the old image. Can anyone update it? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.52|162.158.202.52]] 21:59, 22 September 2017 (UTC)

The gun is the only thing with two uses, so it's ''obviously'' the most useful. [[User:1337357|1337357]] ([[User talk:1337357|talk]])
:A nuke would neutralize all of these threats, so obviously it would be the "most" useful. But nuking a wood fire to put it out would probably be overkill. Randall isn't trying to say that something is the "most" useful, he's just showing us different scenarios.[[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:13, 1 October 2017 (UTC)

Is this a co-violence matrix?

This should probably be in the Charts category, but I can't figure out how to do so. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.106|172.68.65.106]] 18:53, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
:Done. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 01:55, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Brining a knife to a wood fire would probably help after a knife fight if you have a bad wound you need to cauterize or something… [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 19:43, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

2524: Comet Visitor

2021-10-05T09:48:42Z

Magic9mushroom: /* Explanation */ probably not referring to satellites

{{comic
| number = 2524
| date = October 4, 2021
| title = Comet Visitor
| image = comet_visitor.png
| titletext = It's a myth that the Great Wall of China is the only human-made structure visible from space--there are LOTS of structures for us to feel self-conscious about!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SELF-CONSCIOUS HUMAN CLEANING UP FOR A VISITING CHUNGUS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein)|Comet C/2014 UN271}} is a large comet that was discovered in 2014 almost as far from the Sun as the orbit of Neptune, and it will reach its closest approach in 2031, near Saturn's orbit. It's an {{w|Oort Cloud}} comet, with a period of more than 4 million years. Since modern humans ({{w|homo sapiens}}) evolved about 300,000 years ago (although tool-making ancestors were around about 2.5 million years ago), the last time it was among the planets was long before we evolved.

When a long-period comet comes into the inner Solar System, it's often figuratively called a "visit". But Megan and Cueball treat this more literally. Just as one usually neatens up their home when they're expecting guests, to make a good impression, they realize they need to clean up the Earth and its vicinity in preparation for this "visitor". Cueball starts handing out assignments -- he'll clean up the {{w|Pacific Garbage Patch}}, and suggests that Megan take care of all the debris in orbit. It's also common to put some useful objects out of view without throwing them away (perhaps to prevent someone damaging them), planning on returning them to their normal place after the visit; Cueball suggests doing this with the Mars rovers. And he suggests sweeping up the footprints that NASA astronauts left on the Moon during the Apollo missions. However, since the comet will never be anywhere near Earth and Mars, all this hardly seems necessary; it would be like cleaning up your home because the President or some other dignitary will be somewhere in the same metropolitan area. Furthermore, sweeping footprints in the Moon, that Cueball sees as a way of tidying up, would be seen as [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/nasa-looks-to-protect-historic-sites-on-the-moon-47186092/ destroying an invaluable archaeological sites by NASA and other people].

The title text debunks the claim that the {{w|Great Wall of China}} is the only human-made structure visible from outer space; in fact the Great Wall cannot easily be distinguished from space (as it is very long but not wide), but some other human constructions such as the Pyramids can (and cities are easily visible at night because they emit light).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Megan sits at a desk in front of a computer, looking to the left off-panel and pointing at the screen]
:Megan: Have you seen this big comet, C/2014 UN271? It'll pass near Saturn's orbit in 10 years.
:[Cueball stands behind Megan, who is now looking at the computer and typing]
:Cueball: Wow, look at the orbital period.
:Megan: Yeah, it hasn't been to this part of the solar system since humans evolved. At '''''least.'''''
:[Cueball starts running off-panel, holding his finger in the air. Megan looks towards him with both arms resting on the back of her chair]
:Cueball: Well, we definitely need to tidy up. I'll start on the Pacific Garbage Patch, you tackle orbital debris.
:Megan: What about the moon footprints?
:Cueball: Sweep them up. Collect the Mars rovers, too! We can put them back once it's gone.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2420: Appliances

2021-02-04T11:22:53Z

Magic9mushroom:

This seems related to [[1890: What to Bring]]. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 02:55, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

I actually disagree with the stove and washing dishes. In a large pot with water and with some stirring one can remove stains from cloths and kill germs. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.28|141.101.96.28]] 07:08, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

It's interesting that all green squares are mirrored along the diagonal, with one exception, but no yellow ones at all. Usually you would assume that somewhat similar things result in a yellow square on both sides. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 07:35, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

== A washing mashine can (and does) spin-dry clothes ==

A spin-drying program can usually be selected separately without getting the clothes wet. While this is not effective as a dryer, still much better than nothing.
----

I microwave can boil eggs, you just nweed to wrap them in foil and ensure they are covered by the boiling water. The foil acts as a faraday cage and ensures they only cook by conduction from the outside and the water stops arcing.
You cvan also make scrabled eggs and omlettes. [[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]]) 09:31, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
:You seriously suggest putting foil into the microwave? I guess you don't mean tinfoil/aluminum? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 09:58, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
:: You can put a foil there IF you know what you are doing. Try dissecting a microwave popcorn bag - its bottom has an aluminium foil inside and acts as a pan. I was surprised by inclusion of egg as okay by Randall though - I thought egg yolks were famous for infrequent but nasty [https://abcnews.go.com/Health/dangers-microwaving-eggs/story?id=51630977 superheating surprises] when microwaved. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.116|162.158.165.116]] 10:41, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

----
I didn't get this at all until I read the explanation, as I am red-green colorblind and the shades of red and green that Randall chose appear completely identical to me.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.35|141.101.104.35]] 09:47, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

----

What a microwave does to bread is very weird. It seems to make the bread tougher (i.e., harder to bite through; in one case of a microwaved sandwich I was totally unable to bite off pieces), but doesn't make it stiffer (it ends up kind of like rubber). It doesn't wind up unevenly toasted like in the picture, but rather cooked in a completely different way. [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 11:22, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

2350: Deer Turrets

2020-08-25T15:02:36Z

Magic9mushroom: /* Explanation */ no implication that the ancestor added reinforcement to the Hindenburg, mention of the Akron

{{comic
| number = 2350
| date = August 24, 2020
| title = Deer Turrets
| image = deer_turrets.png
| titletext = When my great grandfather designed the Titanic and it hit an iceberg and sank, he didn't sit around moping. He took those lessons to his next job designing airships, and he made the Hindenburg completely iceberg-proof!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a NEIGHBORHOOD DEER (PEW PEW). Explain what a laser turret is. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Black Hat]] has built laser turrets that automatically shoot at nearby wireless devices. This could potentially be useful in a military context, but for [[72|reasons unforeseeable]], he's went and strapped them to local deer. Deer are well-defined by their tendency to move around (which [[Cueball]] attempted to exploit for ergonomic reasons in [[1329: Standing]]), typically in areas close to civilization, so attaching wireless-seeking laser robots to them effectively makes them organic killbots. As the last panel reveals, this can be circumvented by disabling wireless access on your devices (airplane mode), though Black Hat doesn't seem particularly concerned with letting people know this, and seems to brush these inventions off as simple mistakes. At least one member of the press isn't convinced, sarcastically asking "''is it really''?!" It's not clear if the reporter is asking if it's really "another mistake" (i.e. expressing that this was Black Hat's plan all along), or if it's really "okay", but Black Hat chooses to interpret the question as meaning the latter, and declares that he thinks everything's fine -- after all, he's not the one getting shot by deer-mounted lasers.

In the second panel Black Hat uses the common idiom "hindsight is {{w|Visual acuity#Expression|20/20}}". This may likely be a pun, as "hind" is an archaic term for a female deer.

The auto-targeting laser turrets may be a reference to attempts by researchers at the University of Washington to create a laser-based battery charging device [https://www.wired.com/story/wireless-charging-with-lasers/]. The device in question is mounted on a turret that locates and aims the beam at a photovoltaic cell attached to the battery. The same technology could theoretically be used with a higher-powered laser, but for the application described in the comic, the targeting mechanism would need to be altered to sense any electronic rather than the accompanying photovoltaic cell.

The title text claims that Black Hat's great grandfather designed the RMS ''{{w|Titanic}}'', the then-largest ocean-liner in the world which {{w|Sinking of the Titanic|sank after striking an iceberg}} in 1912, and the ''{{w|LZ 129 Hindenburg}}'', the then-largest airship in the world which {{w|Hindenburg disaster|caught fire and crashed}} in 1937. He claims that his ancestor made the ''Hindenburg'' "iceberg-proof". This is an obvious and humorous lie for several reasons. First, the lead designers of the ''Olympic''-class ''Titanic'' and the ''Hindenburg''-class airship were two different people, {{w|William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie|Lord Pirrie}} and Dr. {{w|Ludwig Dürr}} respectively, and Black Hat is likely related to neither. Secondly, while no airship has been recorded to be destroyed by striking an iceberg, this is due to the basic fact that they fly in the air (where there are no icebergs). Were an airship to strike an iceberg, it would almost certainly be destroyed; in fact, the even deadlier accident on the airship USS ''Akron'' resulted from the airship simply striking the (unfrozen) ocean.

The possibility of mounting devices on wild deer was previously referenced in the title text of [[1924: Solar Panels]].

Black Hat has built a similar device to target users of Google Glass in [[1251: Anti-Glass]].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is at a podium, addressing a crowd]
:Black Hat: Was it a mistake to build turrets that can track nearby wireless devices and fire powerful lasers in their general direction?
:Black Hat: Sure. I realize that now.

:[Face-front view of Black Hat]
:Black Hat: Was it a mistake to mount those turrets on neighborhood deer, release them, then lose interest in the project and move on?
:Black Hat: Yes. Hindsight is 20/20.

:[Close-up, Black Hat holds up his index finger]
:Black Hat: But science is about learning from mistakes
:Black Hat: And not being afraid to make new ones.

:[Side view again]
:Black Hat: Like inviting you here, but not warning you to put your phones in airplane mode.
:Black Hat: Another mistake.
:Black Hat: But that's okay.
:Off-Panel: ''Gallop gallop''
:Audience member: ''Is it really?!''
:Black Hat: I think it's fine.
:Deer: ''Pew! Pew!''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category: Animals]]

Talk:1172: Workflow

2020-08-18T13:02:43Z

Magic9mushroom:

It's not a bug, it's a feature! '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:42, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

What? The explanation makes no sense. Where did the user reconfiguring his CPU to overheat upon pressing control come from?[[Special:Contributions/67.5.239.109|67.5.239.109]] 06:27, 11 February 2013 (UTC) Edit: I was referring to the actual explanation which has since been edited, not the comic itself. I understood that, but the explanation was quoting stuff that wasn't in the comic.[[Special:Contributions/70.199.230.162|70.199.230.162]] 18:35, 12 February 2013 (UTC)
:It's not 'from' anything. It's just an extreme and humorously far-fetched example of how a user might put a bug to use. He used the bug so he wouldn't have to reach for his actual control button, a 'horrifying' hack which works for him. [[Special:Contributions/24.105.141.150|24.105.141.150]] 17:21, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

No idea where this coming from, but reminds me [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=656433 this bug] and [http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox-problems.htm#fx7 this reaction to it]. Firefox is good example in general: about:config was obviously CREATED to make much more settings available that is sane to put in configuration windows. On the other hand, this problem is old, so the comix is probably about some other, more recent problem, possibly in completely different software. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:39, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

I'm constantly running stuff like Folding@Home, but I usually underclock my components to conserve power and lengthen the lifespan. However, I created a macro that overclocks my GPU at the press of a button, and I use it to act as a heater for my room whenever I get cold. It works. Those children could follow my example. [[Special:Contributions/70.31.159.230|70.31.159.230]] 15:05, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

I think this is a jab at Windows 8, only an upside-down one - since the comic is about a lone protester as opposed to the general dissatisfaction with Tile World. Also: Let's wire the computer components (and a heat sink) into an office chair. Would sell like crazy in the North.

I think it would be nice to include in the explanation, for people unfamiliar with Emacs, that most macros require you to type Control something. It's common to remap Ctrl to the Caps Lock position so that it's easier and faster to reach. [[Special:Contributions/189.123.138.144|189.123.138.144]] 17:32, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

I've learned long ago to never assume that my personal expectations will help everybody. To never ignore feedback from your core users (who else would stick around and use such a buggy system?). And that if you taking other's choice away to save them from themselves, try to give a quick alternative, such as a hint on how to modify the script to look for prolonged space-bar commands and engage control button (perhaps that user is disabled?) - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 23:53, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

It's quite possible that this is a reference to [https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=30475 this], which is a relatively famous bug that got an incredibly angry reaction. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.230|199.27.128.230]] 19:29, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

;Horrifying

Doesn't the admin rather mean, that it's horrifying that the user's workaround does not work anymore, and not, that he considers the workaround itself horrible?
--[[Special:Contributions/188.109.179.0|188.109.179.0]] 10:43, 13 August 2013 (UTC)
:No for sure he finds it horrifying that some user would use an error that could overheat the system as a way to "press" ctrl key. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:33, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

"std::cin no longer overheats the CPU when you hold down spacebar" [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2013/06/28/c-11-14-stl-features-fixes-and-breaking-changes-in-vs-2013.aspx from here]. I chuckled when I was reading this. Maybe there are references buried in the comments, too. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.128|108.162.254.128]] 21:11, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
:It does. A user called JB said "Although please can you implement an option to reinstate the cpu heating when space bar is pressed feature though, as I have code that relies on this feature."
even better one of the MS devs replied "JB: That's horrifying." about half way through one of their replies {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.158}}

==Tone==
Current revision says this: "A similar effect may be caused by other improvements, particularly those which involve changes in the user interface."

However, the changes in question are precisely those ''not'' universally agreed to be improvements. While some cases like the one in the comic are ridiculous, others are emphatically not and are in fact near-universally agreed to be dumb. As such, referring to the general case as "improvements" is not really viable.

I'd have edited to "changes" myself, but that'd create a repeated word so it's kind of clunky. Does anyone have any suggestions for more neutral terms? [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 13:02, 18 August 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2340: Cosmologist Genres

2020-08-01T05:57:38Z

Magic9mushroom:

An ultra-early comic, after the prior quite-early one. Is Randall (suddenly now) getting enough sleep? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.71|162.158.154.71]] 08:31, 31 July 2020 (UTC)
:Perhaps his sleep schedule has become completely hopeless instead. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.37|108.162.238.37]] 11:08, 31 July 2020 (UTC)
:what do you mean ultra early?
Is the 'pop' not considered a metal possibly referring to the 'pop test' for Hydrogen gas that I had to do hundreds of times in high school? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.230|162.158.2.230]] 10:13, 31 July 2020 (UTC)

Is "Lite" a play on "Light" - i.e. photons during the big bang?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.106|108.162.245.106]] 17:39, 31 July 2020 (UTC)
:Nope. (Probably not, anyway.)[[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.169|172.69.63.169]] 18:31, 31 July 2020 (UTC)

Why 'pop' is 'lite'?
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.6|162.158.238.6]] 19:29, 31 July 2020 (UTC)

I'd say it's because pop is the most commonly played music genre, just as hydrogen and helium are the most common elements. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.109|162.158.93.109]] 20:35, 31 July 2020 (UTC)

I'd like to point out that astronomers don't always refer to non-H/He stuff as "metal". When you start talking about exoplanets, asteroids and meteoroids, there's a different classification (albeit nearly as reductive):

*Gas: H2 and He
*Ice: anything made out of CHON
*Rock: basically the ordinary meaning - mostly metal silicates and sulfides
*Metal: native metals

Each of these has much less variation in density and volatility than the variation between categories (I listed them in ascending order of density and descending order of volatility), so these tend to stick together both in terms of what stays on a planet and in terms of forming layers on a planet (e.g. Earth has no Gas, a light dusting of Ice in the form of the biosphere and oceans, Rock crust and mantle, and a Metal core; Neptune's outer layers are Gas, most of the planet is Ice, and the core is Rock and Metal). [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 05:57, 1 August 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2338: Faraday Tour

2020-07-29T10:58:46Z

Magic9mushroom:

It would be cool to know where the largest Faraday cage is. I Googled the question, but aside from a claim that a certain cage is the largest in Europe (made in an article that gives a security error when I click in the link) I can't find any claimants. -[[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 00:23, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
:('Moving' the above comment from the article page...) The largest Faraday cage is the one around our planet, keeping us isolated from the rest if the universe. It's got a rather clever lighting rig on it to simulate what is outside, including parellax, but it's a kludge and bears no resemblance at all to what is ''really'' out there. Of course, nobody can tell that... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.166|141.101.107.166]] 00:42, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
::You seem to have missed several space missions. The cage is actually not just around our planet, it's around whole solar system. Of course, when Voyager crashed into it they were already prepared to fix the hole and replace Voyager's radio reports with simulation. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:43, 28 July 2020 (UTC)

''"Hairy, addressing an unseen camera (possibly the reader's POV) ... Faraday cages do not necessarily have to be dark inside, as this one appears to be ... "'' Surely it's meant to represent what you would see if you are watching the live cast on your computer? The cage does not "appear to be dark inside" it's just that the signal cuts out, and your screen goes dark.
Pete [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.200|162.158.34.200]] 04:43, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
:It's referring to panels 2 and 5, where we see him entering/leaving the Faraday cage. [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 07:21, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
::Although perhaps the whole of the interior is largely unlit (for... reasons... maybe that's part of the spectacle, just daubs of phosphor paint for a {{w|Batman_%26_Robin_(film)|Batman And Robin}} aesthetic?), the entry (and, if different, exit) looks to be a tunnel. Perhaps an 'airlock' of sorts, unlit at least when open to the outside as an aesthetic ''or'' practical feature (fully isolated internal power-system?) that strengthens the Faradayness around the openings they have to have in it and prevents even the slightest noise-leakage from the outside world. Though the muffling effect seems to extend outwards to the camera POV. (Hairy may have a wifi-to-Mobile Internet extender box on his person, rather than having direct-to-mobile on the camera device.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.14|162.158.159.14]] 10:37, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
:::True, Faraday cage would need some sort of "airlock" ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:43, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
::::You probably wouldn't even be allowed to trail a CAT''n''-whatever cable (no matter if SF/FTP, etc) through the airlock. Not that modern devices even ''can'' be hard ethernet-connected without far too much fiddling and kludging. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.18|162.158.159.18]] 09:16, 29 July 2020 (UTC)
:::Depending on what frequencies you're trying to block and how big the cage is, a door may be too small to matter. AM radio, for instance, has waves too long to fit through a door (~170-500m), so the cage will mostly hold up anyway. Of course, to block microwaves you need a much finer grid like that seen in microwave oven doors, and for IR through soft X-rays the conductor must be solid, so there you would need a double-door system. [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 10:58, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

I feel like the explanation might be reading too much into (in my opinion) weak possible symbolic interpretations that Randall may or may not have intended. (e.g. "The darkness could be taken as a metaphor for depending so heavily on electronic connectivity for one's view of the world that anything not directly connected is conceived as unobservable" and "continuing the theme of treating connectivity as the only way to acquire information. They would still be able to receive news if they ever step outside to welcome visitors, or have print media delivered, but their choice to unconventionally isolate themselves might reflect their general attitudes to the world outside and it is also implied that Hairy is one of the rare few outsiders they have pre-agreed to allow to visit")--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.19|162.158.74.19]] 16:07, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
:I think the joke is exactly about being out of touch with outside events. It happened to me. I spent September 11, 2001 doing EMC testing inside a Faraday cage. When I returned to my desk someone asked "So what's your take on the Twin Towers?" I had no idea what he was on about.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.234.30|162.158.234.30]] 08:19, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

2258: Solar System Changes

2020-01-27T06:28:04Z

Magic9mushroom: /* Table of proposed changes */ mercury notes

{{comic
| number = 2258
| date = January 22, 2020
| title = Solar System Changes
| image = solar_system_changes.png
| titletext = "Actually, Jupiter already has a very impressive ring system!" --someone who knows Jupiter is within earshot
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MYSTERIOUS PLANET. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows a drawing with a standard sketch of the {{w|Solar System}}, featuring the Sun, 8 planets, the asteroid belt, and Pluto. [[Randall]] then proposes eight changes to the solar system that he would make if he had the power to do so. Each change is drawn in red with explanatory labels. Performing these changes would be impossible in practice{{Citation needed}}, and would probably make the solar system unstable if actually performed{{Citation needed}}.

See explanations of each proposed change in the [[#Table of proposed changes|table]] below.

The title text refers to {{w|Rings of Jupiter|Jupiter's rings}}, which exist but which are not nearly as prominent as Saturn's.

The title text is being spoken by "someone who knows [that] Jupiter is within earshot," implying that the speaker does not wish to offend Jupiter. which does have its own ring system, just one so small that it's not visible via telescope. Considering that Jupiter is known to disrupt the asteroid belt and send asteroids towards the inner solar system (cf. {{w|Kirkwood gap}}) and completely destroy other celestial bodies ({{w|Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9}}), someone who is "within earshot" of Jupiter may wish to reassure the planet that they think its ring system is already very impressive when they really don't.

Randall has in the past proposed other types of ridiculous changes, such as in [[1061: EST]], [[1069: Alphabet]], and [[1902: State Borders]].

==Table of proposed changes==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Proposed change !! Explanation
|-
| Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit || In the 19th century, scientists found discrepancies between Mercury's predicted orbit and observations. They proposed a hypothetical planet, {{w|Vulcan (hypothetical planet)|Vulcan}}, to account for this discrepancy. After general relativity was discovered by Albert Einstein in the 20th century, it was found to account for these discrepancies.

Planets inside Mercury's orbit would be "mysterious" because they would be difficult to see (due to being above the horizon only during the day and a short period of twilight) or visit (spacecraft travelling inside Mercury's orbit are subject to enormous amounts of sunlight, causing them to overheat). If such planets existed, it's plausible that flybys wouldn't have occurred until very recently.
|-
| After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon || Billions of years ago, Venus and Earth are believed to have been almost identical objects orbiting the Sun. However, orbiting somewhat closer to the Sun, Venus became sufficiently hot that its oceans evaporated, cloaking the surface with gases that caused the Sun's heat to become trapped. This made the planet even hotter, causing a [[1519|runaway greenhouse effect]], and ultimately Venus became very much hotter than the Earth. In turn, the lack of water caused Venerean plate tectonics to fail, causing Venus to have periodic "resurfacing" events where the entire crust is recycled by volcanism. On top of that, Venus was almost certainly hit by an enormous object, hard enough that its spin was completely reversed. Randall may be saying that Venus has fared so badly throughout its life that it deserves some compensation, like rings or a moon.

Alternatively, Randall could be referring to how we see Venus now as opposed to in the past. A hundred years ago, scientists considered Venus and Mars to be equally likely candidates for life and future human exploration - one being a little warmer than Earth and the other a little colder. However, when we sent spacecraft to Venus and Mars in the 1960s, we quickly discovered that [https://what-if.xkcd.com/30/ Venus is a terrible place]. Its atmosphere is more than 90 times as dense as Earth's and its surface temperature is over 450° C (800° F), not to mention the sulfuric acid rain. Spacecraft that have landed on its surface have lasted a couple hours at most. As a result, missions to Venus have become far rarer since the 1960s, while missions to Mars have remained frequent. Randall might be saying that most people don't consider Venus to be nearly as fascinating place as they used to, and that it would be far more interesting with rings, or at least a moon like Earth or Mars.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, some astronomers (most notably Giovanni Cassini) claimed to have found a moon of Venus, but that was later determined to be an illusion.

Note that, due to the retrograde spin of Venus, any prograde-orbiting moon would inspiral due to tidal drag (the same effect causing the Moon to slowly move away from the Earth). It is unknown whether Venus used to have moons that were destroyed by this mechanism (possibly passing through a ring state in the process).
|-
| Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions. || Mars has a lot more geological variety than the moon, and is much larger and has active weather patterns, and would therefore look far more interesting than the moon when seen from Earth. In addition, by replacing Earth's current moon with Mars, sending spacecraft to the moon and Mars wouldn't require separate missions and could thus be consolidated into a single one. This would benefit NASA's space exploration efforts, which have suffered from presidents alternating targets for human exploration between "moon-to-Mars" versus "Mars direct" architectures.

Unfortunately, replacing our moon with Mars would have some negative side-effects for both worlds. Mars is 8.7 times more massive than the moon, which means that it would raise much stronger tides on Earth than our moon does now. As for Mars, it would now be significantly warmer than in its present orbit. The ice caps would likely sublimate, and what little water is left on the planet could boil away due to the lack of a thick atmosphere.

Incidentally, the Moon is thought to have been formed by an impact between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. While Randall probably means well, the situation could get out of control very quickly.
|-
| The solar system needs a super-Earth || {{w|Super-Earth|Super-Earths}} are a type of {{w|Exoplanet|exoplanet}} -- a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun -- that are significantly larger than Earth but significantly smaller than the gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). While they are relatively common among systems in which smaller exoplanets have been found, our Solar System doesn't have any super-Earths, and with Mars being moved to replace the Moon, its location would be open to a new planet. With a super-Earth nearby, astronomers would be able to get a much better idea of what they are like. A super-Earth might also be an exciting place to colonize, although [https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition30/tryanny.html it would not be possible to return to orbit from such a planet] with current rocket technology.
|-
| More asteroids! || Asteroids belts are usually portrayed in fiction as being incredibly crowded with asteroids, so much so that they pose a significant hazard for spaceships. In reality, the asteroid belt is much more boring, as most large asteroids are millions of miles from their nearest neighbor. The number of asteroids in the asteroid belt is indeterminate, as they range in size from dwarf planets {{w|Asteroid|down to about a meter across}}, and more than 100,000 have been found. Despite this, the density of asteroids in the belt is low enough that spacecraft have no problem flying through the belt untouched. Randall wants more asteroids.
|-
| Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn") || Jupiter is the largest planet, with a volume larger than all other planets combined, and it displays striking weather patterns such as the {{w|Great Red Spot}}. Saturn, with its prominent ring system, is perhaps the most spectacular, but the planet itself looks very bland. Randall would merge the two, creating one planet that would dominate by both size and appearance. The two planets' moons would also be combined: the "Jaturn" diagram shows both the Galilean moons (the four largest moons of Jupiter) and Titan (the largest moon of Saturn) orbiting outside of Jaturn's rings.
|-
| Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair. || Uranus and Neptune are often regarded as being planetary "fraternal twins." Both have approximately the same size, the same mass, and the same composition - they even have similarly bizarre magnetic fields. Uranus's most notable trait is that its axial tilt is almost 98°, meaning it lies on its side and has a seasonal cycle unlike that of any other planet. However, this causes Uranus to look completely featureless most of the time, which makes it less interesting, while Neptune has more active weather patterns, including, episodically, a {{w|Great Dark Spot}} similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The name "Uranus" is also {{tvtropes|UranusIsShowing|subject to ridicule}} by English speakers.
|-
| Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune || Pluto was considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 until 2006, when the International Astronomical Union changed its definition of "planet" and reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. However, many people who grew up with Pluto listed as the ninth planet of the solar system were unhappy with the change, a topic that has been the topic of several other xkcd comics ([[473: Still Raw]], [[1551: Pluto]], [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]], etc.). Randall proposes a {{w|Solomonic compromise}} to "satisfy" both the camps who prefer to think of Pluto as "not a dwarf planet" and "not a planet" by making it into a moon. The diagram shows that Charon will also be made a moon of Neptune, and presumably Pluto's other moons as well. Even if the entire Pluto system were transplanted all at once, tidal forces would cause the bodies to drift apart and orbit Neptune independently.

Interestingly, one of the original hypotheses for Pluto's origin is that it and Triton were originally both moons of Neptune, but Triton knocked Pluto out of its orbit into a new orbit around the sun, while Triton remained with Neptune.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A not-to-scale diagram of the solar system is shown with the right edge of the sun on the left side, featuring all eight planets along with their major moons, Pluto (along with its major moon), and the asteroid belt. The original solar system is drawn in black, but several changes have been proposed. If some of the existing planets are removed or changed, they are greyed out, possibly with red crosses over them or red circles or arrows. New planets, moons, rings and asteroids have been added all in red. Each change has been labeled with red text. Only the Sun and Mercury are completely unchanged, Earth and Neptune are not changed directly but their moons have changed. The only black text is a caption at the top:]
:<big>Changes I Would Make to the Solar System</big>

:[Below each of the changes to the solar system is mentioned from left to right, with their labels, that are all in red text. Except for the label under Jupiter and Saturn, there is a line going from the changes to the relevant label.]

:[Three additional planets, one Mercury sized and two smaller on either side very close to each other, have been drawn in between Mercury and the Sun. A bracket marks all three of them and a long line goes from that to the label above, which is even above the next label positioned above the planets.]
:Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit

:[A ring has been drawn around Venus, and a dot representing a moon has been added on its left. A small line goes from the label beneath to Venus.]
:After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon

:[Next to Earth, drawn with four of the major continents visible, the Moon has been grayed out and crossed out with a red X. Also Mars has been grayed out and it is inside a red circle. An arrow goes from the circle around Mars to the Moon. a small line goes from the arrow between the Moon and Mars to the label above the planets.]
:Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions.

:[An additional planet, all in red, has been added between Mars and the asteroid belt, about halfway in size between Earth and Neptune. Four continents are visible in a large ocean, along with weather patterns as in an atmosphere. A small line goes from the planet to the label beneath.]
:The Solar System needs a super-Earth

:[Numerous asteroids have been drawn, half in black, with the other half in red added to the existing asteroids that were already there. A small line goes from the asteroids to the label beneath.]
:More asteroids!

:[Jupiter and Saturn have both been greyed out and also crossed out with two red X'es. Two arrows points from each of the original planets to a new larger red planet drawn above the two. This new planet has the belts, zones, Red Spot, and size of Jupiter, and the hexagon on the north pole and rings of Saturn. It also has the four largest moons from Jupiter on one side and the largest moon from Saturn on the other side, with all five drawn similarly to the original moons. Below the two original planets is a label.]
:Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn")

:[Uranus is greyed out and also crossed out with a red X. A line goes down to the label beneath it.]
:Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair.

:[Pluto and Charon have both been greyed out and are inside a red circle. An arrow points from Pluto and Charon to the right side of Neptune, where Pluto and Charon have been redrawn in red. Neptune's own largest moon is on the other side of Neptune. A line goes from the arrow up to a label above the planet.]
:Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

2258: Solar System Changes

2020-01-27T06:16:04Z

Magic9mushroom: /* Table of proposed changes */ added detail re: Venus

{{comic
| number = 2258
| date = January 22, 2020
| title = Solar System Changes
| image = solar_system_changes.png
| titletext = "Actually, Jupiter already has a very impressive ring system!" --someone who knows Jupiter is within earshot
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MYSTERIOUS PLANET. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows a drawing with a standard sketch of the {{w|Solar System}}, featuring the Sun, 8 planets, the asteroid belt, and Pluto. [[Randall]] then proposes eight changes to the solar system that he would make if he had the power to do so. Each change is drawn in red with explanatory labels. Performing these changes would be impossible in practice{{Citation needed}}, and would probably make the solar system unstable if actually performed{{Citation needed}}.

See explanations of each proposed change in the [[#Table of proposed changes|table]] below.

The title text refers to {{w|Rings of Jupiter|Jupiter's rings}}, which exist but which are not nearly as prominent as Saturn's.

The title text is being spoken by "someone who knows [that] Jupiter is within earshot," implying that the speaker does not wish to offend Jupiter. which does have its own ring system, just one so small that it's not visible via telescope. Considering that Jupiter is known to disrupt the asteroid belt and send asteroids towards the inner solar system (cf. {{w|Kirkwood gap}}) and completely destroy other celestial bodies ({{w|Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9}}), someone who is "within earshot" of Jupiter may wish to reassure the planet that they think its ring system is already very impressive when they really don't.

Randall has in the past proposed other types of ridiculous changes, such as in [[1061: EST]], [[1069: Alphabet]], and [[1902: State Borders]].

==Table of proposed changes==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Proposed change !! Explanation
|-
| Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit || In the 19th century, scientists found discrepancies between Mercury's predicted orbit and observations. They proposed a hypothetical planet, {{w|Vulcan (hypothetical planet)|Vulcan}}, to account for this discrepancy. After general relativity was discovered by Albert Einstein in the 20th century, it was found to account for these discrepancies.
|-
| After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon || Billions of years ago, Venus and Earth are believed to have been almost identical objects orbiting the Sun. However, orbiting somewhat closer to the Sun, Venus became sufficiently hot that its oceans evaporated, cloaking the surface with gases that caused the Sun's heat to become trapped. This made the planet even hotter, causing a [[1519|runaway greenhouse effect]], and ultimately Venus became very much hotter than the Earth. In turn, the lack of water caused Venerean plate tectonics to fail, causing Venus to have periodic "resurfacing" events where the entire crust is recycled by volcanism. On top of that, Venus was almost certainly hit by an enormous object, hard enough that its spin was completely reversed. Randall may be saying that Venus has fared so badly throughout its life that it deserves some compensation, like rings or a moon.

Alternatively, Randall could be referring to how we see Venus now as opposed to in the past. A hundred years ago, scientists considered Venus and Mars to be equally likely candidates for life and future human exploration - one being a little warmer than Earth and the other a little colder. However, when we sent spacecraft to Venus and Mars in the 1960s, we quickly discovered that [https://what-if.xkcd.com/30/ Venus is a terrible place]. Its atmosphere is more than 90 times as dense as Earth's and its surface temperature is over 450° C (800° F), not to mention the sulfuric acid rain. Spacecraft that have landed on its surface have lasted a couple hours at most. As a result, missions to Venus have become far rarer since the 1960s, while missions to Mars have remained frequent. Randall might be saying that most people don't consider Venus to be nearly as fascinating place as they used to, and that it would be far more interesting with rings, or at least a moon like Earth or Mars.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, some astronomers (most notably Giovanni Cassini) claimed to have found a moon of Venus, but that was later determined to be an illusion.

Note that, due to the retrograde spin of Venus, any prograde-orbiting moon would inspiral due to tidal drag (the same effect causing the Moon to slowly move away from the Earth). It is unknown whether Venus used to have moons that were destroyed by this mechanism (possibly passing through a ring state in the process).
|-
| Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions. || Mars has a lot more geological variety than the moon, and is much larger and has active weather patterns, and would therefore look far more interesting than the moon when seen from Earth. In addition, by replacing Earth's current moon with Mars, sending spacecraft to the moon and Mars wouldn't require separate missions and could thus be consolidated into a single one. This would benefit NASA's space exploration efforts, which have suffered from presidents alternating targets for human exploration between "moon-to-Mars" versus "Mars direct" architectures.

Unfortunately, replacing our moon with Mars would have some negative side-effects for both worlds. Mars is 8.7 times more massive than the moon, which means that it would raise much stronger tides on Earth than our moon does now. As for Mars, it would now be significantly warmer than in its present orbit. The ice caps would likely sublimate, and what little water is left on the planet could boil away due to the lack of a thick atmosphere.

Incidentally, the Moon is thought to have been formed by an impact between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. While Randall probably means well, the situation could get out of control very quickly.
|-
| The solar system needs a super-Earth || {{w|Super-Earth|Super-Earths}} are a type of {{w|Exoplanet|exoplanet}} -- a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun -- that are significantly larger than Earth but significantly smaller than the gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). While they are relatively common among systems in which smaller exoplanets have been found, our Solar System doesn't have any super-Earths, and with Mars being moved to replace the Moon, its location would be open to a new planet. With a super-Earth nearby, astronomers would be able to get a much better idea of what they are like. A super-Earth might also be an exciting place to colonize, although [https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition30/tryanny.html it would not be possible to return to orbit from such a planet] with current rocket technology.
|-
| More asteroids! || Asteroids belts are usually portrayed in fiction as being incredibly crowded with asteroids, so much so that they pose a significant hazard for spaceships. In reality, the asteroid belt is much more boring, as most large asteroids are millions of miles from their nearest neighbor. The number of asteroids in the asteroid belt is indeterminate, as they range in size from dwarf planets {{w|Asteroid|down to about a meter across}}, and more than 100,000 have been found. Despite this, the density of asteroids in the belt is low enough that spacecraft have no problem flying through the belt untouched. Randall wants more asteroids.
|-
| Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn") || Jupiter is the largest planet, with a volume larger than all other planets combined, and it displays striking weather patterns such as the {{w|Great Red Spot}}. Saturn, with its prominent ring system, is perhaps the most spectacular, but the planet itself looks very bland. Randall would merge the two, creating one planet that would dominate by both size and appearance. The two planets' moons would also be combined: the "Jaturn" diagram shows both the Galilean moons (the four largest moons of Jupiter) and Titan (the largest moon of Saturn) orbiting outside of Jaturn's rings.
|-
| Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair. || Uranus and Neptune are often regarded as being planetary "fraternal twins." Both have approximately the same size, the same mass, and the same composition - they even have similarly bizarre magnetic fields. Uranus's most notable trait is that its axial tilt is almost 98°, meaning it lies on its side and has a seasonal cycle unlike that of any other planet. However, this causes Uranus to look completely featureless most of the time, which makes it less interesting, while Neptune has more active weather patterns, including, episodically, a {{w|Great Dark Spot}} similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The name "Uranus" is also {{tvtropes|UranusIsShowing|subject to ridicule}} by English speakers.
|-
| Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune || Pluto was considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 until 2006, when the International Astronomical Union changed its definition of "planet" and reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. However, many people who grew up with Pluto listed as the ninth planet of the solar system were unhappy with the change, a topic that has been the topic of several other xkcd comics ([[473: Still Raw]], [[1551: Pluto]], [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]], etc.). Randall proposes a {{w|Solomonic compromise}} to "satisfy" both the camps who prefer to think of Pluto as "not a dwarf planet" and "not a planet" by making it into a moon. The diagram shows that Charon will also be made a moon of Neptune, and presumably Pluto's other moons as well. Even if the entire Pluto system were transplanted all at once, tidal forces would cause the bodies to drift apart and orbit Neptune independently.

Interestingly, one of the original hypotheses for Pluto's origin is that it and Triton were originally both moons of Neptune, but Triton knocked Pluto out of its orbit into a new orbit around the sun, while Triton remained with Neptune.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A not-to-scale diagram of the solar system is shown with the right edge of the sun on the left side, featuring all eight planets along with their major moons, Pluto (along with its major moon), and the asteroid belt. The original solar system is drawn in black, but several changes have been proposed. If some of the existing planets are removed or changed, they are greyed out, possibly with red crosses over them or red circles or arrows. New planets, moons, rings and asteroids have been added all in red. Each change has been labeled with red text. Only the Sun and Mercury are completely unchanged, Earth and Neptune are not changed directly but their moons have changed. The only black text is a caption at the top:]
:<big>Changes I Would Make to the Solar System</big>

:[Below each of the changes to the solar system is mentioned from left to right, with their labels, that are all in red text. Except for the label under Jupiter and Saturn, there is a line going from the changes to the relevant label.]

:[Three additional planets, one Mercury sized and two smaller on either side very close to each other, have been drawn in between Mercury and the Sun. A bracket marks all three of them and a long line goes from that to the label above, which is even above the next label positioned above the planets.]
:Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit

:[A ring has been drawn around Venus, and a dot representing a moon has been added on its left. A small line goes from the label beneath to Venus.]
:After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon

:[Next to Earth, drawn with four of the major continents visible, the Moon has been grayed out and crossed out with a red X. Also Mars has been grayed out and it is inside a red circle. An arrow goes from the circle around Mars to the Moon. a small line goes from the arrow between the Moon and Mars to the label above the planets.]
:Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions.

:[An additional planet, all in red, has been added between Mars and the asteroid belt, about halfway in size between Earth and Neptune. Four continents are visible in a large ocean, along with weather patterns as in an atmosphere. A small line goes from the planet to the label beneath.]
:The Solar System needs a super-Earth

:[Numerous asteroids have been drawn, half in black, with the other half in red added to the existing asteroids that were already there. A small line goes from the asteroids to the label beneath.]
:More asteroids!

:[Jupiter and Saturn have both been greyed out and also crossed out with two red X'es. Two arrows points from each of the original planets to a new larger red planet drawn above the two. This new planet has the belts, zones, Red Spot, and size of Jupiter, and the hexagon on the north pole and rings of Saturn. It also has the four largest moons from Jupiter on one side and the largest moon from Saturn on the other side, with all five drawn similarly to the original moons. Below the two original planets is a label.]
:Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn")

:[Uranus is greyed out and also crossed out with a red X. A line goes down to the label beneath it.]
:Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair.

:[Pluto and Charon have both been greyed out and are inside a red circle. An arrow points from Pluto and Charon to the right side of Neptune, where Pluto and Charon have been redrawn in red. Neptune's own largest moon is on the other side of Neptune. A line goes from the arrow up to a label above the planet.]
:Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

Talk:2241: Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect

2019-12-17T14:41:53Z

Magic9mushroom:

Brussels Sprouts Mandella Effect dot Tumblr dot com--[[User:GoldNinja|GoldNinja]] ([[User talk:GoldNinja|talk]]) 00:20, 14 December 2019 (UTC)

Is liquorice ''really'' so disliked as suggested? For me it's "Meh" ({{w|Liquorice allsorts}} are all the better for being partnered with sweetness in various ways), but pallatable enough in its plain form. Although I admit the versions salted with ammonium chloride are a more acquired taste to my (apparently) non-European tastebuds. I won't eat those in handfulls, just the odd occasionally grabbed morsel from the bag that gets rapidly emptied by the continental person who brought them... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.250|141.101.98.250]] 00:25, 14 December 2019 (UTC)
: Black licorice jelly beans are good (the Twizzler fake stuff not so much), but I mostly don't like the allsorts. Tried the Finnish/European stuff, and that's just plain nasty. However, of my peers and co-workers, I'm apparently the only one that likes black licorice. Still, however, there's always plenty of the bags of black licorice jelly beans in the store around Easter, so the cohort of folk that like them is large enough that it's still profitable to stock.
::Most people like liquorice in The Netherlands (which comes in various forms: sweet/salty, hard/soft etc.), it is available at most supermarkets. As for the title text, when I saw today's comic title, the first thing I thought was: is that your new password, Randall? --[[User:IByte|IByte]] ([[User talk:IByte|talk]]) 09:47, 14 December 2019 (UTC)
:::In Denmark we love it, so I guess it is mainly an American thing. Maybe it is also not so varied what types you can get if most people have an idea that they dislike it. I eat some every day. My children also likes it allot. But there are also types of licorice I do not like. I think for children in the first world it is more general that they do not like sprouts than licorice. Have added a note of this in the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:58, 16 December 2019 (UTC)

Silica packets are harmless to eat: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/19775/what-would-happen-if-you-ate-one-those-silica-gel-packets {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.128}}

The joke (a supposedly false statement) about silica gel may be actually a true, keen observation: people are “misled” to believe that it is absolutely NOT edible (i.e. poisonous) because of the strong warning DO NOT EAT they read again and again (see e.g. [https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/21181/what-would-happen-if-one-eats-silica-gel]). Maybe this ''is'' intended; maybe it's just a joke (lie) that turned out to be true. What do you think?
[[User:Yosei|Yosei]] ([[User talk:Yosei|talk]]) 04:24, 14 December 2019 (UTC)
:I think you should not eat them, have added link, but the gel itself is probably not toxic, but can annoy you if eaten as in the packets. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:58, 16 December 2019 (UTC)

I remember eating Brusseles Sprouts as a kid and those were tasty (and expensive). I wonder if modern sprouts won't be tasty for me. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.244.150|172.68.244.150]]
:Perhaps they were expensive because they were well prepared? I too, recall eating Brussels Sprouts and thinking they were tasty...they had been steamed by a gourmet chief, in a light wine vinaigrette with white pepper, and I decided I must have been mistaken about them; later I found I still hated them, normally, and I had just had them uncommonly well prepared that one time. Normally they are not expensive, you might have been paying for the skill, not the subject. On the other hand, there is currently a widespread discussion concerning the vast difference in the currently wide-spread and almost ubiquitous “Cavendish” banana cultivar from its predecessor, almost untasted by living tongues, so it is not unheard of for a change in the produced monoculture causing consumers to suddenly, unexpectedly, finding their tastes apparently changing, despite common parlance using one generic term for all varieties of a foodstuff. [[User:Eclair Egglayer|Eclair Egglayer]] ([[User talk:Eclair Egglayer|talk]]) 10:06, 14 December 2019 (UTC)
::I realize this is an uphill battle, but I can’t help reminiscing about how Wikipedia, about a decade ago, seemingly implied that “U.F.O.” referred to “a pseudoscientific belief in ‘flying saucers’ piloted by little green men from the planet Mars” rather than being a military and aeronautical term referring to a wide range of common phenomena, some of which are claimed, by some, to be evidence for a widely known pseudoscientific theory. I will refrain from mentioning more recent questionable editing of Wikipedia, as I don’t want to bring any more hotheaded contention to what is already a hopeless struggle, but many of you are familiar with the sort of thing I am referring to. I am aware that Randal’s characters referring to a “real Mandela Effect” already has the implication that “the Mandela Effect is not real”, but do we really want to contribute to the growing conflation of observed and documented phenomena with the pseudoscience explanations for them, simply because the pseudoscience occupies more of the popular consciousness? The redirect currently points to a subsection of a Wikipedia article on False Memories; surely we don’t want to add to any further confusion in common parlance between False Memories and esoteric explanations for them involving alternate realities? Before you dismiss my concerns, think about how often you encounter a firm conviction that “anyone who believes in UFOs is crazy or stupid”, or even more bizarre claims like “Flat Earthers aren’t real” (rather than “Flat Earthers are real people who believe in a particular pseudoscientific theory”). Just because the popular discussion of the Mandela Effect is dominated by discussions that conflate the phenomenon of commonalities in miss-remembered history, with a particular pseudoscientific explanation, must we accept that sociologists and psychologists can no longer discuss the former, because it is firmly settled, in the non-scientific discussions of the day, that any such conversation must be about that latter? [[User:Eclair Egglayer|Eclair Egglayer]] ([[User talk:Eclair Egglayer|talk]]) 09:51, 14 December 2019 (UTC)
:::Tried to read your statment but could not understand the point. Mandela effect is not real! UFO as in from aliens are not real. But of course an object you do not know what is that flies is a UFO. But not from outer space. Cannot understand your objections. Are they against Randall's comic or this explanation? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:58, 16 December 2019 (UTC)

The title text referenced the password strength comic, and I had to go back and check that the comic's example password was really "correcthorsebatterystaple". {{unsigned ip|172.68.38.88}}

I found out that the new sprouts actually came out in 1999. See: [https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/nieuw-zoete-spruitjes~b6803ee03/ nieuwe zoete spruitjes] {{unsigned ip|141.101.76.16 }}
: ...Huh. That means that the tasty Brussels sprouts I've eaten as a kid might have already been the new variety (I was 7 years old in 1999, and I ''think'' those memories go back farther than that, but I'm not actually very sure). --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.22|172.69.55.22]] 20:24, 14 December 2019 (UTC)
: Don't think so, it probably took a few years before they were cultivated in the US. In the Netherlands and the rest of Europe they have not broken through at all. 1999 was the year it was developed. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.33|172.69.54.33]] 21:48, 16 December 2019 (UTC)

When my mother prepared brussel sprouts when I was a child, she would boil them to tenderness, aka just short of boiling them to death. This tended to leach all the soluble stuff, like sugars and vitamins, into the water and emphasize the sulphur compounds. In more recent times, I have had them prepared better and prepared them myself better (cut in half through the stem, drizzle with oil and roast or pan fry) and they can be very tasty. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 18:02, 15 December 2019 (UTC)

Ugh. I always loved sprouts as a kid. Proper loved 'em. They're OK now, but the only thing bitter about eating them now is me: nobody who hated them had any duty to eat them but, because they somehow felt they did, growers created a blander version that haters would tolerate. Wouldn't it have been better - for everybody concerned - to leave them alone?! Those who liked them would eat them, those who didn't wouldn't, and we'd all be happy. Now we have everybody saying sprouts are no good - either because of the entrenched idea that it's an accepted fact, or because these once-tasty delights have been replaced by little nuggets of bland greenness. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 18:06, 15 December 2019 (UTC)

Oh, and the Mandela Effect: frustrating to everyone in the parts of the world with better reportage on 1980s South Africa, to whom it's like saying 'But surely Tom Cruise died in that plane crash along with Madonna, Bill Gates and Emperor Hirohito in 1987! I fucking REMEMBER it!' [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 18:06, 15 December 2019 (UTC)

I was really damn confused by the alt text until I read the explanation. I kept thinking "saw them open" meant "cut through them" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.136|162.158.214.136]] 08:13, 16 December 2019 (UTC)
:Yes this was one of those few moments where I mus admit I would never have understood this my self, and also not have been able to search my way to it. BevauseI really never go to a concert with a opening act. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:58, 16 December 2019 (UTC)
::Now this is concerning. There may be a lot more people smiling politely than I'd realised. My family have always made "that sounds like a band name" jokes about phrases that appear in the news, etc. (and it's accepted enough a trope that nobody has to say "that sounds like a band name"), so of course I do that outside a family setting too. It never occurred to me that people might not have a clue what I mean if I say "Large Hadron Collider? I preferred their early stuff." or somesuch. "Ah, Ukrainian Quid Pro Quo. Such a shame it was written off as just a difficult second album."[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 23:52, 16 December 2019 (UTC)
:::I guess it depends on the way you say it, the context, and the quality. Even though I got the title text on the first try, because I am a regular concert-goer, the puns in your examples are more clearly referring to music. Also it is usually easier to convey such a joke when talking directly to someone, compared to in writing. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:15, 17 December 2019 (UTC)

Comic seems to have been updated to fix the NPR reference number [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.53|162.158.166.53]] 10:27, 16 December 2019 (UTC)
:I have updated the image, but usually it takes some hours before the new version will be present on this page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:58, 16 December 2019 (UTC)

An important thing to note about Brussels sprouts' bitterness is that it doesn't exist for everyone; there are plenty of people for whom Brussels sprouts of any sort simply don't taste bitter because they don't have the requisite taste receptors. [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 14:41, 17 December 2019 (UTC)

Talk:1818: Rayleigh Scattering

2019-12-08T13:16:01Z

Magic9mushroom: /* The full answer */ new section

I keep trying to correct the misspelled joung Girl to Young Girl but it keeps reverting. I corrected the two non-capitalized sentences and they stay put. Does "joung" have a meaning i don't understand? [[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 14:55, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

No, "joung" is only there, because of my limited english skills [[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.88|162.158.150.88]] 06:59, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

:There might be conflicting edits, that happens a lot with new comics[[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 15:34, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

Question - while I understand the intent of the comic is that overly complicated explanations can be confusing, isn't the title-text analogy incorrect? Doesn't chlorophyll scatter green light and absorbs other colors, whereas with the sky, it's really just different levels of scattering and very little absorbing (hence why a clear sky at dusk can appear red, the sky wasn't absorbing red light, it was just scattering it differently than blue light). Isn't that fundamentally different from the way most other common objects get their perceived color? (ps - I'm not a scientist, just curious, appreciate any feedback)
:Sry, no answer to your question, but a second chlorophyll-related one: I doubt that chlorophyll "reflects" green light, "scattering" should be correct! Any other opinions???? milebrega, 14:38, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

"Why are leaves green?" "Well, the leaf absorbs most of the colors, but not the green light, which it scatters instead." "Why is my shirt black?" "Well the cloth absorbs most of the colors, but just scatters the black light... wait..." [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 15:46, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

I like to think this is Miss Lenhart, continuing her science teaching in the same vein as in 'Venus'. There's no proof in the comic, but it fits nicely. Potentially something to add as a possibility in the explanation? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.247|162.158.154.247]] 16:38, 31 March 2017 (UTC)
:I second the take that this is Miss Lenhart; I guess she's not in a classroom setting but she's been in similar situations. Someone should mention that the girl's second question is the same from [[803: Airfoil]] (also with Miss Lenhart). Articles have mentioned sort of "series" of themes before; that article, [[1145: Sky Color]], and this have an ongoing theme of "how to explain science to kids".[[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.34|172.68.150.34]] 04:04, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

Yesssss <3 I had the exact same thought the first time Rayleigh scattering was explained to me: "isn't that just a specific mechanism of air being blue?" For some reason such explanations majorly tend to insist that the air is not in fact blue, and it has always bothered me. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.19|162.158.111.19]] 16:41, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

Maybe the explanation should point out that the real reason the planes "stay up" is that the tiny birds are on the '''underside''' of the wings.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.34|162.158.92.34]] 17:20, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

If air is blue how come a sunset, with LOTS of air, is red? I know the answer but it is the obvious next question with this explanation. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.171|162.158.74.171]] 17:22, 31 March 2017 (UTC)
:During the day the Sun heats the air. At sunset you see the result of this heating, the air glows red-hot or orange-hot and starts to quickly cool down. You can't see it glowing during the day because of the very bright Sun.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.34|162.158.92.34]] 17:40, 31 March 2017 (UTC)
::Oh ok. Than why is the sun-rise also red? ;-). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 23:40, 31 March 2017 (UTC)
:: https://www.reddit.com/r/ExplainLikeImCalvin/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.202|108.162.210.202]] 10:31, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

Can someone add this to the comics featuring those respective characters? [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 17:41, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

New here, probably not following proper form in this commend, but, if I may ask, is that thing about mountains appearing blue actually true? (Unsigned)

: If I do remember it correctly from my theoretical part of thesis about telepresence (so not exact domain, but I used good sources I think) the point behind why we see distant objects as bluish is: we see them colorless - maybe grayish - because the more the object is distant from us, the less reflected photons bounce into our eye. That means less energy of the radiation. As you may know, we have two sets of photoreceptor cells in the eye retina: one type for brightness perception (bacilli) and the other for multiple colors detection (coni). The later is active only in sufficient light conditions (photopic vision) - not in the dark. So that's why you don't see much colors in the night (scotopic vision) - not enough photonic energy gets into your eyes so only brightness is perceived. The same applies for the less energy from distant object photons - only brightness detected. So why it is it seems blue and not gray only? That is because bacilli cells are most sensitive to the blue color (500nm) contrariwise to the cone cells color sensitivity maximizes at green color (550nm). So the answer is bacilli cells are most sensitive to blue color, therefore the bacilli stimulus interpreted by our brain as blueish color, and only bacilli cells are active for low energy visual input - distant objects or in dark. Sources: sorry only in Czech language pdf-section 3.1.1: https://goo.gl/hOnWoi [[User:Gr4viton|Gr4viton]] ([[User talk:Gr4viton|talk]]) 06:59, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

Also to the question in hover-comment "Why does chlorophyll scatter green light?". Only lately (if I do remember correctly), in the year 2016 "scientist" found out why. From all of the electromagnetic spectra of the sun radiation, the most energy efficient frequencies are the non-greenish for the chemical reaction of photosynthesis. So the answer is: photosynthesis is more effective without green color, plants need photosynthesis to survive, Darwin principle of the strongest survives exists, plants evolved to diminish green color intake on leaves. Why there are plants with not only green colored leaves? Other reasons may drive the evolution - animals eating plants, environment temperature and other conditions may lower the importance of photosynthesis effectivity. [[User:Gr4viton|Gr4viton]] ([[User talk:Gr4viton|talk]]) 07:12, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

I received the 'rayleigh scattering' explanation myself, and it served me well. Even without knowing anything about quantum mechanics or how the human eye works, knowing that there's an optic principle at work other than simple pigmentation explains why the light is golden early and late in the day, and why dust or smoke can have such diverse effects on the colour of the light beaming down, especially at dusk and dawn.

If I'd been told air was blue, I'd have a lot more questions, and I'd still think that gemstones like alexandrite that look different colours in different light were somehow magical, instead of just having unique physical properties. So, I'd like to assume Randall's just making a outlandish joke, not really trying to say that it's wrong to give children the phrase 'rayleigh scattering' and explain what the consequences of it are, even without describing the mechanisms behind it--something that still goes way over my head.[[User:Namaphry|Namaphry]] ([[User talk:Namaphry|talk]]) 04:59, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

Air is not blue - certainly not in the same way that leaves are green or blue-dyed liquids are blue. This is evident when observing the Moon - a large chunk of rock much farther away than any mountains. Does all the air we're looking through at it make it appear blue? Of course not. If anything, the Moon can appear orange near the horizon. (But clearly, the reason is not that "air is orange".)

""Air is not blue - certainly not in the same way that leaves are green or blue-dyed liquids are blue. ""
Have You ever seen liquid air or oxygen?
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.52|162.158.92.52]] 06:29, 2 April 2017 (UTC)
: Actually no. And a google image search for Liquid Oxygen doesn't give an image I'm totally convinced is actually of Oxygen (Best match seems to be a flask of Ozone, although it is most certainly a very deep blue).

: Air in the Earth's atmosphere is not liquid, nor does it contain liquid oxygen. While liquid oxygen is pale blue, gaseous oxygen is colorless. Feel free to check the Wikipedia page on oxygen for a quick reference. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.215.88|172.68.215.88]] 08:21, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

What is happening with the sky is that air can appear to glow with various colors when illuminated with a strong directional source of light, such as the sun. The color depends on multiple factors, including the angle of illumination and observation. The glow can be commonly seen being blue, white, yellow, or red - with blue hues generally observable on clear days, and reddish hues at sunrise or sunset. This only works with a directional source of light; when the source of light is diffuse, such as under a large cloud cover, the sky doesn't appear blue, and neither do distant mountains, readily disproving the notion that air itself would be blue.

There. That didn't involve any quantum mechanics. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.215.88|172.68.215.88]] 07:07, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

Is there no xkcd April Fool's this year? ~[[User:Luc|Luc]] [[[User talk:Luc|talk]]] 22:27, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

;Current explanation all backwards?
I seriously doubt the point of the comic is to tell children wrong answers just because they might not understand the real answer. That is just horrible. "The child's reaction in this comic, "Wow!", suggests that not only she understood, but is also excited about learning, which could be more important to her development than hearing the "correct" answer up front." That doesn't make any sense. I'm sure he doesn't want to say, tell children planes fly because of birds in their wings. There are easy and simple ways to give the correct answer, that children will understand, and it's definitely not better for their development and interest to tell them absolut BS. It's the other way around, he makes fun of this answer, and so wants to make the point to NOT tell children things like that just because you're too lazy to explain, or because you think they might not understand. The point is not: Give an easy and possibly wrong answer to children. The point is rather: While for blue sky the easier (and TRUE) answer might be enough for kids, for other things that's not the best solution, and definitely don't oversimplify so much that your answer actually is wrong. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.98|162.158.88.98]] 08:53, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
:I completely agree. I find the current explanation to be 100% the opposite of what Randall has been trying to say in earlier comics. The joke is those that think it is better to tell false stories rather than try to tell the truth. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:28, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

Look, there's really no question about whats going on in this comic, and people need to stop overcomplicating and overanalyzing things. Here's how it breaks down: Science Girl asks a science question. Blondie gives a simplified but still correct answer, while Megan gives the traditional but more complicated answer. Blondie then makes the point that's also the comic's intended moral - that we can view things at different levels of detail, and that just because an explanation is less detailed than you're use to doesn't mean it's actually wrong.
:Blondie is doing the child a disservice. It's debatable if "Because air is blue" is accurate as others gave the examples of with sunrise and sunset. Also dubious is her statement, "Blue light bounces off it and hits our eyes". This makes it sound like simple reflection which is a very distinct mechanism from scattering. Things that reflect light vs. things that allow some light to pass through them (glass, air, water, irises) get wavelengths to our eyes in different ways. If you give the completely useless "because it makes it so blue light gets to our eyes" you'd be correct, but saying that the light reflects rather than is scattered is false.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.5|162.158.79.5]] 15:25, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

Then in the last panel, Blondie takes her valid point to its illogical conclusion by giving an explanation that isn't merely simplified, but straight up wrong, which frustrates Megan. This panel has no moral and is not trying to make a point. It's just there to be the punchline. Anyone reading ''any'' kind of moral into it should probably remember why they're called "comics" in the first place.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.172|108.162.241.172]] 02:04, 2 April 2017 (UTC)

;Hommage to Calvin and Hobbes?
I believe this comic could be an hommage to Calvin and Hobbes comics, where Calvin asks his dad stuff about nature, and his dad replies with completely nonsensical explanations.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.22|162.158.114.22]] 21:20, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
:Calvin and Hobbes did not invent children asking science questions or parents who can't answer them.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.172|108.162.241.172]] 02:04, 2 April 2017 (UTC)
::Lot's of homages exist to things that didn't invent other things.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.5|162.158.79.5]] 15:27, 3 April 2017 (UTC)
:::Sure, but if it were an homage to Calvin and Hobbes, it would include something that's recognizably Calvin and Hobbes, not just a child asking science questions or a parent who can't answer them. References and homages are never this subtle. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.172|108.162.241.172]] 16:07, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

== The other side of the argument ==

The other side of the argument is basically that by giving an overly simple and inaccurate explanation, one can be very misleading. There is another take on the following sentence:

The child's reaction in this comic, "Wow!", suggests that not only she understood, but is also excited about learning, which could be more important to her development than hearing the "correct" answer up front.

That is that the child may be impressed by a mere superficiality. Did she really understand, or was the explanation in some way impressive? (Impressiveness does not imply correctness.)

A person might say, "Wow!" to some Hollywood special effects. Does that really mean that the person is interested in how to create such effects? Does the girl in the strip really care to learn? If she does, starting off by telling her something wrong seems a rather odd way to go about it.

When one starts in a field of study, one often needs to have simple explanations. Otherwise, the sheer mass of detail can be overwhelming. It is more useful to give an explanation that is more or less correct and to mention that there are special cases. An example is Einsteinian physics which obsoleted Newtonian physics, but the latter is still close enough to be useful in everyday situations.

Additionally, if one gets in the habit of simplifying everything without regard to correctness, where does it end? The final frame gives an example of this.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.166|108.162.245.166]] 00:26, 2 April 2017 (UTC) (Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net>

:+1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.29|108.162.246.29]] 14:45, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

== April fools day comic absense ==

Where's the 2017 April fools day comic?? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.197|162.158.79.197]] 11:50, 2 April 2017 (UTC)

I noticed that too... maybe its hiding. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.10|162.158.142.10]] 15:33, 2 April 2017 (UTC)

== This is extremely reminiscent of Terry Pratchett's concept of "lies to children". ==
Defined as, "a statement which is false, but which nevertheless leads the child’s mind towards a more accurate explanation, one that the child will only be able to appreciate if it has been primed with the lie."

Basically, these are simplified stories we tell – and not just to children – when we want to begin to explain something, but feel that our audience doesn’t have the background information necessary to understand the “full” story. These can be anything from “the stork brought you” to “Columbus wanted to prove that the Earth was round” to “atoms look like little solar systems” to “evolution is the survival of the fittest.”

== The full answer ==

The fundamental issue that this comic vaguely touches on, but doesn't really address, is that any given object actually has three different colours and people often overlook this.

*Emission colour - This is the colour that the object appears without external illumination.
*Transmission colour - This is the colour that the object imparts to a (white) light source when illuminated from behind.
*Reflection colour - This is the colour that the object imparts to a (white) light source when illuminated from in front.

Obviously, an object that doesn't emit light has an emission colour of "black". An object that is opaque has a transmission colour of "black". Because many objects have these properties, and most of the non-opaque objects have similar transmission and reflection colours, it's easy for people to overlook the three different colours of objects and say for instance "plants are green" when technically they mean "plants are black/green/green" or "the sun is white" when technically they mean "the sun is white/black/black".

The thing that makes air stick out is that it has a reflection colour of pale blue, but a transmission colour of orange/red. The reason ''why'' is that its colour derives from Rayleigh scattering rather than absorption. (Air's emission colour is black, unless strongly heated.) [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 13:16, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2208: Drone Fishing

2019-09-30T08:09:12Z

Magic9mushroom:

So kite fishing is a thing for recreational deep sea fishing. I think some people are experimenting with using drones instead of kites. I think I've also read about using a drone to allow long "casts" when shore fishing. This seems to be Randall just mixing all that up in a fun (?) way.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.105|172.69.63.105]] 16:04, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

What kind of bait do you use to attract a drone, anyway? Or would you use some kind of electronic lure? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:01, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
:Perhaps no bait is required and you either wait for the drone to fly into the streaming lines and foul itself; or fly the kite in such a manner as to 'snag' the drone similar to the way one snags salmon during the mating runs. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 17:43, 29 September 2019 (UTC)

Isn't this comic a reference to How To? There was a comic in that book about fishing while suspended from drones. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.73|172.69.63.73]] 21:47, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

Could this comic possibly be a reference to [[2148: Cubesat Launch]]?--[[User:XRENEGADEx|XRENEGADEx]] ([[User talk:XRENEGADEx|talk]]) 23:11, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
:And/or the space junk removal experiments? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.18|172.68.143.18]] 03:23, 28 September 2019 (UTC)
::Those experiments are awesome. And Randall actually predicted one (kinda) by making a line go from solid to dotted at the right time, see trivia of [[1402: Harpoons]] --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:21, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

Nobody notices drone fishing is an actual thing? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.22|172.69.55.22]] 01:44, 28 September 2019 (UTC)

It isn't clear to me that this would be illegal, at least the "fishing" part, although caught drones would have to be returned. Unless the airspace has been reserved, kites and drones have equal access to the airspace. Perhaps the extra dangling strings could be seen as a deliberate attempt to trap drones, but any justification ("testing kite tail designs", "testing ion content in the air" etc.) could be sufficient to make these OK. Likewise, the kite owner could complain about the drones being "armed" with unjustifiably sharp propellers and such "designed" to damage the kite. Umm, are drone fights a thing (yet)?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.154|108.162.241.154]] 12:16, 28 September 2019 (UTC)
:Mini-drone racing has been a thing for years, but IRL fights are considered gauche in the extreme. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.134|172.69.22.134]] 16:51, 28 September 2019 (UTC)
: [http://unleashthebot.com/best-battle-drones/ Battle Drones] are a real thing. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 04:13, 29 September 2019 (UTC)
:: What could possibly go wrong? Thank goodness income inequality is stabilizing globally. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.211|172.68.189.211]] 20:54, 29 September 2019 (UTC)

Alright ladies and gentlemen, I've come to [https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/12/16767000/police-netherlands-eagles-rogue-drones train eagles] and write content, and I'm [https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/db5f2l/dutch_police_arrest_bird_for_participating_in/ all out of eagles.] [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.248|172.69.22.248]] 06:46, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

I believe 1523: Microdrones should be mentioned, as it also mentions stealing drones. [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 08:09, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

1469: UV

2019-08-29T05:38:42Z

Magic9mushroom: /* Transcript */ mistake

{{comic
| number = 1469
| date = January 5, 2015
| title = UV
| image = uv.png
| titletext = Hey, why stop at our house? We could burn down ALL these houses for the insurance money.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Ultraviolet}} light (abbreviated UV light, as in the title of the comic) is a kind of light that is slightly more energetic than the light in the {{w|visible light|visible}} portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Ultraviolet light is normally by itself invisible to human eye, but can induce {{w|fluorescense}} (glowing) of certain organic molecules. A UV flashlight can thus be a means to detect small amounts of blood, semen, and urine on surfaces.

The first part of this comic focuses on [[Megan]] showing off her new {{w|Black light|UV flashlight}} to [[Cueball]] by revealing how disgusting their bathroom appears in UV light despite how clean it appears normally. She manages this due to UV light's special property of causing chemicals in urine to glow. Both Cueball and Megan are horrified by their discovery. This is a common reaction in the face of more sensitive diagnostic tests. Cueball's comment is a reference to the 1979 sci-fi film {{w|Alien (film)|Alien}}.

In the second part of the comic they realize that their house will never be clean enough. So Megan resolves to burn down the house for the insurance money (i.e. {{w|insurance fraud}}). Cueball is in doubt, but Megan apparently has no morality left. She even proclaims this while pouring some dangerous liquid, probably gasoline, on to the floor of their apartment.

The last panel of the comic implies that the two hadn't purchased fire insurance beforehand, and plan on purchasing it now, only to make a claim immediately afterwards. At this point Cueball has been won over by Megan's plan and tries to help by searching for insurance companies using Google. They wish to find the company that pays out the most. This plan will almost certainly not work since insurance typically only covers events that begin ''after'' purchasing the insurance, and does not cover anything that happens before purchasing the insurance, or that is intentionally caused.

The title text shows just how distorted Megan's and Cueball's thinking has become, as one of them suggests burning down '''all''' the houses (in their vicinity?) in order to claim the insurance money for them. This plan will also not work. Even if insurance has been purchased for these other homes, the insurance companies will pay the owners of those homes, not Cueball and Megan. Instead, Cueball and Megan would likely be arrested for multiple charges of arson and end up in prison for a very long time.

The take home message of this comic must be: '''Never''' use a UV light in your bathroom. Maybe Randall did this by mistake causing the creation of this comic. (Randall has previously warned people about similar diagnostics in [[860|860: Never Do This]].)

==Transcript==
:[Megan holding a flashlight and standing behind Cueball, who is sitting at a computer.]
:Megan: Our bathroom looks pretty clean, right?
:Cueball: I think so. Why?
:Megan: I got a UV flashlight. Come look.

:[Cueball leaves the computer; they walk.]

:[Megan and Cueball are off-screen.]
:Cueball: Looks fine.
:UV flashlight: *Click*
::::: *Click*
:Cueball: ...Oh my God.

:[Megan and Cueball walking in the opposite direction; Cueball is looking back behind him.]
:Cueball: The toilet looked like the guy's chest after the alien burst out.
:Megan: What do we '''''do?'''''

:[Megan and Cueball standing.]
:Cueball: We clean. Clean and clean and never stop.
:Megan: It won't be enough. We should just burn the place down for the insurance money.

:[Cueball standing behind Megan. Megan is pouring a liquid onto the floor out of a red-colored canister labled "Danger".]
:Cueball: Isn't that wrong?
:Megan: My morality has evaporated under the harsh UV light.

:[Megan and Cueball standing outside the burning building.]

:[Megan and Cueball standing, Cueball looking at his phone.]
:Cueball: OK, I'm Googling insurance companies. Which one do you think pays the most?
:Megan: Let's just try calling around.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color‏‎]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:2087: Rocket Launch

2018-12-20T08:08:52Z

Magic9mushroom:

I had to fight the urge to type Care Bare [[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]])

This was published during the Arianespace launch livestream, between launch and satellite deployment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpHJoo0h8GQ [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 17:11, 19 December 2018 (UTC)

Looks like it could be an Ariane5 in the comic, it is a 3 stage. Anyone know if Max-CB is a real thing (and before I get any wisecracks, I know there aren't any Care Bears in the clouds) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.214|162.158.63.214]] 20:27, 19 December 2018 (UTC)

: A search for rocketry terminology reveals that Cb stands for Ballistic Coefficient, which is a measure of the ability to coast. It is related to both velocity and air density, which vary throughout a rocket launch, so it makes sense that there might be some point of maximum ballistic coefficient. (Note: I am not a rocket scientist, and this is clearly rocket science, so take this with a grain of salt!) [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 21:13, 19 December 2018 (UTC)
::That point is called "Max-Q". Source: I've seen a lot of rocket launches recently and they always mention it, because it's the second most likely moment to have a failure (first is the launch, of course). [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 07:28, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

: Pontificating further, it is reasonable to conjecture that as a rocket accelerates to higher speeds, the drag from the atmosphere increases with increasing speed, but past a certain point the drag begins to decrease as the air gets thinner. This suggests there is some point somewhere during the launch sequence where aerodynamic drag reaches a maximum value - aka Max Cb. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 21:26, 19 December 2018 (UTC)

: Finally one I can help with! Okay, I don't think this is ballistic coefficient for several reasons: 1. Ballistic Coefficient is typically noted by the greek letter Beta, not Cb. 2. Ballistic coefficient is mass divided by drag area (drag coefficient times reference area). Basically a shape parameter. So while the mass does change over the course of the flight (burning fuel), the drag area does not. Making this a somewhat useless parameter for a launch vehicle 3. Ballistic Coefficient is typically reported as a static parameter rather than a time-varying parameter, so "Max ballistic coefficient" is a rather unusual metric (and would occur on the launch pad in any case, when mass is highest). Finally, as an aside, objects with high ballistic coefficients tend to fly through the air easily and are not influenced very much by wind (such as rocks or bullets), whereas low-beta objects can by pushed and slowed down a lot by the wind (such as balloons). [[User:Tyanderson91|Tyanderson91]] ([[User talk:Tyanderson91|talk]]) 03:17, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

r/shittyspacexideas --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.139|173.245.52.139]] 19:53, 19 December 2018 (UTC)

If you trace the dotted lines, it seems that the Boosters are the winners[[User:CCCVVVA|CCCVVVA]] ([[User talk:CCCVVVA|talk]]) 03:02, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

This was posted on the day SpaceX was supposed to launch the GPS-III-2 satellite, which may be the reason for the mention of GPS [[User:Tyanderson91|Tyanderson91]] ([[User talk:Tyanderson91|talk]])

The max CB is clearly meant to spoof the real problem of rockets hitting birds. Since birds can't fly in the he upper part of the atmosphere, the point of highest likelihood of hitting a bird would presumably be below max-Q and not above it as in the comic. It is worth noting that there are no clouds at the altitude where max CB is shown in the comic, so it seems unlikely that any hypothetical cloud castle would be that high.

EDIT: ok, after checking the numbers it seems like it is technically possible to encounter birds and clouds at heights above max-Q for some rockets, but the position shown in the comic still seems too high. [[User:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|Probably not Douglas Hofstadter]] ([[User talk:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|talk]]) 04:23, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

I suspect "pursuit phase" refers either to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pursuit_predation predation] or to some aspect of air warfare (either involving missiles chasing craft or craft vs. craft). [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 08:08, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

2082: Mercator Projection

2018-12-08T07:21:16Z

Magic9mushroom: /* Explanation */ Canada isn't second largest by land area. It's second-largest by total area because of its large territorial waters.

{{comic
| number = 2082
| date = December 7, 2018
| title = Mercator Projection
| image = mercator_projection.png
| titletext = The other great lakes are just water on the far side of Canada Island. If you drive north from the Pacific northwest you actually cross directly into Alaska, although a few officials--confused by the Mercator distortion--have put up border signs.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by someone who's not really into maps. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The {{w|Mercator projection}} is a {{w|map projection}} (a way to present the spherical Earth surface into a flat 2-D map) presented by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It was the standard map projection for some time, though it is currently less used because of its distortion issues, especially that it shows countries in the higher latitudes much larger than they actually are. For example on the Mercator Projection, Greenland (the largest non-continent island in the world) is shown to be much larger than Australia (the smallest continent), although the latter in reality is nearly 4 times as big.

Cueball uses White Hat's mistrust of the Mercator projection to convince him of ridiculous facts about Canada, namely that it is simply a small island in {{w|Lake Ontario}}. The title text continues on these falsehoods, claiming that the {{w|Great Lakes}} are simply "water on the far side of Canada Island", and that it is possible to drive directly into Alaska from the Pacific Northwest region of the US (it's not, Canada is in the way). Cueball can possibly make these statements as Canada is a country in the northern regions, where the Mercator Projection would show it larger than it actually is. However Canada is actually in fact quite large, being the fourth largest country in the world by land area, behind Russia, China and the USA.

The Mercator Projection was previously mentioned in [[977: Map Projections]] of "what your favorite map projection says about you". The Mercator Projection was listed as "You're not really into maps." It is also the second comic in a row that relates somehow to latitudes.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and White Hat standing and talking.]
:Cueball: Did you know Canada is actually a smallish island in Lake Ontario?
:White Hat: What?
:Cueball: Yeah, it only appears to have a land border with the U.S. due to the Mercator Projection.
:White Hat: Wow! I had no idea.
:[Caption below the frame:]
:At this point people feel so misled by the Mercator Projection that you can use it to convince them of basically any map fact.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

518: Flow Charts

2018-10-19T12:42:10Z

Magic9mushroom: /* Transcript */ incorrect label

{{comic
| number = 518
| date = December 17, 2008
| title = Flow Charts
| image = flow_charts.png
| titletext = At 8 drinks, you switch the torrent from FreeBSD to Microsoft Bob. C'mon, it'll be fun!
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Flowchart|Flowcharts}} are diagrams that represent processes in a graphical form. While predominantly used in {{w|computer programming}} to visualize the structure of source code, flowcharts can in theory be used to depict any real or virtual procedure. In this comic, this idea is subverted by employing a flowchart to explain how flowcharts work. Flowcharts are a recurring theme on xkcd, and a list of flowchart comics can be found [[:Category:Flowcharts|here]].

This seems like a faulty basis for explaining anything, but the basic functionality of flowcharts is quite intuitive, and the attempted self-description is almost unnecessary. In fact, the comic does not actually explain how to use the flowchart: it just uses an example of a very simple flowchart to demonstrate to the reader that they can easily work out how to follow it. If the reader attempts to "game" the system by either giving contradictory answers, or refusing to acknowledge that they can see the "Yes" and "No" labels, the flowchart gets confused or becomes abusive. Just like a real computer.

If you confirm or demonstrate that you can follow the flowchart, it inevitably leads to the "Let's go drink" box, which gives rise to the assumption that the whole chart was only a pretence for drinking.

{{w|FreeBSD}} is a {{w|unixoid}} operating system for computers which is generally considered to require advanced skills. The question whether {{w|Linux}} or (Free)BSD is the preferable operating system is a question of almost religious belief to some. The comic takes a shot against FreeBSD by implying that one would only decide to install it when under the influence of alcohol. This may also be a reference to [[349: Success]].

The title text mentions {{w|Microsoft Bob}}, a software package published in 1995 by {{w|Microsoft}}. The product was targeted towards beginners, and Microsoft decided to use a cartoon-style interface instead of a more 'professional' environment. It was a commercial failure, and still serves as an inside joke among IT professionals.

[[Randall]] has made use of [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts]] before and later he released another comic name [[1195: Flowchart]].

==Transcript==
:[A flow chart is shown beneath a caption. There are 14 boxes five diamond shaped and the rest rectangular. From all the diamond boxes there are one arrow entering and two arrows leaving (with yes/no labels on them). One of the other boxes is the start with only one arrow leaving, and three of these boxes are endings with only one arrow entering. Three has two arrows entering and one leaving. And two have one in and one out. Caption:]
:A guide to
:<big>understanding flow charts</big>
:presented in flow chart form.

:Box 0: Start
::[Arrow to Box 1.]
:Box 1: Do you understand flow charts?
::[Arrow to Box 2.] Yes
::[Arrow to Box 4.] No
:Box 2: Good
::[Arrow to Box 3.] Yes
:Box 3: Let's go drink.
::[Arrow to Final Box.] 6 Drinks
:Box 4: Okay. You see the line labeled "Yes"?
::[Arrow to Box 6.] Yes
::[Arrow to Box 5.] No
:Box 5: But you see the ones labeled "No".
::[Arrow to End-Box 1.] Yes
::[Arrow to End-Box 2a.] No
:End-Box 1: Wait, what?
::[No Arrows.]
:End-Box 2a: Listen.
::[Arrow to End-Box 2b.]
:End-Box 2b: I hate you.
::[No Arrows.]
:Box 6: ...and you can see the ones labeled "No"?
::[Arrow to Box 2.] Yes
::[Arrow to Box 7.] No
:Box 7: But you just followed them twice!
::[Arrow to Box 8a.] Yes
::[Arrow to Box 8a.] No
:Box 8a: (That wasn't a question.)
::[Arrow to Box 8b.]
:Box 8b: Screw it.
::[Arrow to Box 3.]
:Final Box: Hey I should try installing FreeBSD!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics sharing name|Flowcharts01]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:BSD]]

1878: Earth Orbital Diagram

2017-08-28T14:13:20Z

Magic9mushroom: Equinox/solstice are still only one method of defining seasons.

{{comic
| number = 1878
| date = August 18, 2017
| title = Earth Orbital Diagram
| image = earth_orbital_diagram.png
| titletext = You shouldn't look directly at a partial eclipse because of the damage that can be caused by improperly aligning the solar-lunar orbital plane with the orbital bones around your eye.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Still needs a review and the picture without the labels needs an explanation. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is the third consecutive comic published in the week before the {{w|solar eclipse}} occurring on Monday, {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|August 21, 2017}} which is a total solar eclipse and visible in totality within a band across the {{w|contiguous United States}} from west to east. The other comics are [[1876: Eclipse Searches]] and [[1877: Eclipse Science]]. The trend continued on the day of the eclipse with [[1879: Eclipse Birds]].

The comic claims that the reason that eclipses don't happen every month is simple to understand by looking at an orbital diagram. Ironically, the cartoon has so many parts and labels that it is far more difficult to understand than is implied. While the graph itself is based on {{w|Orbital elements|astronomical definitions}}, all the labels are nonsense in this context. In effect, the comic is a new take on a common joke in which a person asks a scientist a question, the scientist begins by saying "It's really quite simple", then proceeds to give a very lengthy and highly technical explanation that non-scientists would not be expected to understand.

All of the labels in the diagram are complicated words or phrases. Some are related to orbital mechanics (e.g. "equinox" and "perihelion"), while others are wholly unrelated or even made up. Each label is nonsensical in its place in the diagram. Compare/contrast with the standard {{w|Kepler orbit|Kepler Orbit}} diagram.

The title text references warnings to not look directly into the sun, but parodies those warnings by referring to 'orbit', the anatomical term for the eye socket.

===Labels and Their Astronomical Meanings===
All items are not drawn to scale. Neither the sizes of the celestial objects are that similar as shown nor the orbits are. The real scales are shown in this table:
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:right;"
!
! real (in km)
! to scale

|-
| Sun (radius)
| 695,700
| basketball

|-
| distance Earth-Sun
| 149,600,000
| length of a large truck (26 meters)
|-
| Earth (radius)
| 6,371
| pinhead (1 mm)
|-
| Moon (radius)
| 1,737
| pin (0.3 mm)
|-
| distance Earth-Moon
| 384,399
| small necklace (6.6 cm)

|}
When the distance Sun-Earth is scaled to one meter or below neither Moon nor Earth can be seen by the human eye.

;Arctangent
*{{w|Arctangent}} is the inverse function of the tangent function of trigonometry. You can determine a non-right angle of a right triangle by taking the arctangent of the length of the opposite side divided by the length of the adjacent side.
*The angle shown in the comic has no astronomical meaning.

;Astral plane
*The {{w|Astral plane}} is a plane of existence in various esoteric theories. It features prominently in {{w|Dungeons & Dragons}} cosmology, connecting the various other planes of existence.
*The picture shows the {{w|Orbit_of_the_Moon|lunar orbital plane}}, the plane in which the Moon orbits the Earth, tilted about 5.1 degrees from the ecliptic.

;Declension
*{{w|Declension}} is the inflection of nouns in a language. In {{w|Latin}} declension and declination are both called ''{{w|la:Declinatio|Declinatio}}''. In this comic, however, it might be a portmanteau of declination and (right) ascension.
*In astronomy, the {{w|Declination|declination}} is one of the two angles that locate a point on the celestial sphere in the equatorial coordinate system. It is measured north or south of the celestial equator, like the geographical latitude on Earth. But in the picture the label is at the angle for the axial tilt of the Earth.
*And the {{w|Right_ascension|right ascension}} is the angular distance measured eastward along the celestial equator from the vernal equinox to the hour circle of the point in question.

;Determinant of the date of Easter
*In Christianity {{w|Easter}} always falls on the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon after the beginning of spring (equinox). The ecclesiastical full moon is determined by a calendar that approximates the actual time of the full moon, Thus the date of easter is defined by a combination of a solar and a lunar calendar. The position of that angle isn't that bad but it should be not more than 30 degrees (slightly more than one month.)
*In mathematics, the determinant is a function of numerical matrices. In this context, however, it apparently refers to something that directly determines the date of Easter.

;Dimples of Venus
*The {{w|Dimples of Venus}} are indentations sometimes visible on the human lower back.
*In astronomy the {{w|Belt of Venus}} is a shadow cast by the Earth visible in its atmosphere.

;Enceliopsis
*{{w|Enceliopsis}} are small genus of flowering plants in the daisy family, appropriately known as "sunrays".
*In astronomy this point has also no specific meaning. But {{w|Enceladus}} is a moon around {{w|Saturn}}.

;Equinox / Solstice
{{w|Equinox}} and {{w|Solstice}} have very different meanings:
*An Equinox is one of two instants in the year when the sun is exactly over the equator; the length of day and night are very nearly equal that day at all locations on the planet, and it is potentially the first day of Spring or Autumn, depending on the time of year, in which hemisphere (Northern vs Southern) the observer is located, and which definition of seasons one uses.
*A Solstice is one of two instants in the year when the sun's angle is maximally far from Earth's equator; when one occurs, the length of the day or night is shortest or longest (depending on whether one is in the northern or southern hemisphere), and (in the United States) it marks the first day of summer or winter.

Both types occur because the Earth's rotation axis is tilted (at 23.4 degrees) from its orbital plane (ecliptic) about the Sun.

Jokingly insisting that two different terms are American/British variants of the same word has been the topic of [[1677: Contrails]].

;Hypothecate
*{{w|Hypothecate}} is a legal verb that means something similar to "make a mortgage".
*The {{w|hypotenuse}} is the longest side of a right-angled triangle. Here it is an unrelated length, approximately equal to the diameter of the sun (half the angular size of the sun times twice the distance to it).

;Obsequity
*Obsequity means the state of being obsequious (showing an indecorous willingness to obey or serve, or "sucking up").
*In astronomy the correct word is {{w|Obliquity}}, meaning an axial tilt.

;Perihelix
*This is a portmanteau of helix and perihelion.
*The {{w|perihelion}} is the point in a elliptical solar orbit that is closest to the Sun.

;Prolapse
*A {{w|Prolapse}} is a medical condition in which an internal organ is slipped forward or down.
*{{w|Retrograde and prograde motion}} are terms used to describe the apparent motion of celestial objects through the sky.

;Sagittal plane
*The {{w|Sagittal plane}} is an anatomical plane, dividing the body in left and right.
*The correct label in the picture would be the {{w|Ecliptic plane}}. The plane the Earth orbits the Sun.
*{{w|Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius}} is one of the stellar constellations of the Zodiac. The center of the Milky Way lies in this constellation.

;Solar plexus
*The {{w|Solar plexus}} is a network of nerves located in the abdomen. It was the name of [[64: Solar Plexus]].
*{{w|Solar}} is an adjective referring to the Sun, the star in our solar system.

;Tropopause
*The {{w|Tropopause}} is the boundary in our atmosphere between the troposphere and stratosphere, defined as the boundary where air ceases to cool with increasing elevation. It is 9-17 km above sea level, not the thousands of kilometers as depicted here.
*The label appears to point at the orbit of the moon.

;Angle between the Astral and the Sagittal Planes
* The angle depicted is the inclination of the moon orbit. The planes are marked with nonexistent symbols, derived from Greek letters. The lunar orbit plane is labeled by a mixture of a ''nu'' (ν) and a ''gamma'' (γ), the ecliptic is labeled with a double ''chi'' (χ), and the angle between is marked with a ''phi'' (ϕ) but having two vertical lines.

;Errata
* Errata are corrections in a published text (e.g. a newspaper article) issued after the publication.
* The angle depicted lies between the direction from Earth to the Sun in the ecliptic and the line where the lunar orbit plane crosses the ecliptic. When this angle would be zero AND the Moon is between the Sun and Earth a total eclipse would occur. This is they only part of the diagram fulfilling slightly Randall's promise on top of the picture.

==Explanation for "Why isn't there a (solar) eclipse every month?"==

If the plane of where the Earth orbits the Sun and where the Moon orbits the Earth were completely aligned, then there would be a solar eclipse at every new moon (once every {{w|Orbit_of_the_Moon#Lunar_periods| 29.5 days}}) and a lunar eclipse at every full moon (half a lunar period about 14.7 days after a New Moon). However, the plane in which the Moon orbits the Earth is tilted with an inclination of 5 degrees relative to that of the ecliptic plane (the plane defined by the Earth's orbit around the Sun). Eclipses are only possible during two eclipse seasons each year (half a year apart) where for a period of 31 to 37 days the Sun is nearly aligned with the two points in the tilted Earth-Moon plane where the Moon crosses the ecliptic plane. During an eclipse season at the time of a new moon there will be solar eclipses visible from certain locations and during full moons there will be lunar eclipses.

[[Image:Eclipse_Diagram.jpg]]

The real explanation of eclipses is evident from this xkcd comic, but is labeled with a fictional character similar to a Greek phi but with two vertical lines; the remaining labels also do not contribute to this explanation and exist only to distract or misinform or entertain the reader.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[An orbital map of the Earth is shown. The Sun is in the center, the Earth is at the right bottom, and the Moon is left below the Earth.]
:'''Why isn't there an eclipse every month?'''
:This is a common question! The answer is made clear by a quick look at the Earth's orbital diagram:

:[Label Sun:]
:Solar plexus

:[Label on the Earth's plane:]
:Sagittal plane

:[Labels on Earth's orbit (beginning at the Earth counterclockwise):]
:Perihelix, Declension, Obsequity, Hypothecate, Enceliopsis, Equinox (''Solstice'' in British English)

:[Two angles in the plane are labeled as:]
:Determinant of the date of Easter, Arctangent

:[The plane of the Moon is pictured in a small angle to the Earth's plane and named Astral Plane. The angle is presented between two lines (Greek Nu or Gamma and a double Greek Chi) and identified by a character that looks similar to a Greek Phi but with two vertical lines.]
:[The labels at the Moon's path are:]
:Tropopause, Prolapse, Errata.

:[An arrow points to the Earth at the zero meridian on the equator. The label reads:]
:Dimples of Venus

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Total Solar Eclipse 2017]]

1878: Earth Orbital Diagram

2017-08-19T04:57:04Z

Magic9mushroom: Not everyone reckons seasons by the solstices and equinoxes. The three-month definition is quite common as well, though I've never seen it used by Americans.

{{comic
| number = 1878
| date = August 18, 2017
| title = Earth Orbital Diagram
| image = earth_orbital_diagram.png
| titletext = You shouldn't look directly at a partial eclipse because of the damage that can be caused by improperly aligning the solar-lunar orbital plane with the orbital bones around your eye.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is the third consecutive comic published in the week before the {{w|solar eclipse}} occurring on Monday, {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|August 21, 2017}} which is a total solar eclipse and visible in totality within a band across the {{w|contiguous United States}} from west to east. The other comics are [[1876: Eclipse Searches]] and [[1877: Eclipse Science]].

The comic claims that the reason that eclipses don't happen every month is simple to understand by looking at an orbital diagram. Ironically, the cartoon has so many parts and labels that it is far more difficult to understand than is implied. While the graph itself is based on {{w|Orbital elements|astronomical definitions}} all the labels are nonsense in this context. In effect, the comic is a parody of a common joke in which a person asks a scientist a question, the scientist begins by saying "It's really quite simple", then proceeds to give a very lengthy and highly technical explanation that non-scientists would not be expected to understand.

All of the labels in the diagram are complicated words or phrases. Some are related to orbital mechanics (e.g. "equinox" and "perihelion"), while others are wholly unrelated or even made up. Each label is nonsensical in its place in the diagram. Compare/contrast with the standard {{w|Kepler orbit|Kepler Orbit}} diagram.

The title text references warnings to not look directly into the sun, but parodies those warnings by referring to 'orbit', the anatomical term for the eye socket.

===Labels and Their Astronomical Meanings===

;Arctangent
*{{w|Arctangent}} is the inverse function of the tangent function of trigonometry. You can determine a non-right angle of a right triangle by taking the arctangent of the length of the opposite side divided by the length of the adjacent side.
*The angle shown in the comic has no astronomical meaning.

;Astral plane
*The {{w|Astral plane}} is a plane of existence in various esoteric theories. Also used in fictional fantasy context.
*The picture shows the {{w|Orbit_of_the_Moon|lunar orbital plane}}, the plane in which the Moon orbits the Earth, tilted about 5.1 degrees from the ecliptic.

;Declension
*{{w|Declension}} is the inflection of nouns in a language.
*In astronomy, the {{w|Declination|declination}} is one of the two angles that locate a point on the celestial sphere in the equatorial coordinate system. It is measured north or south of the celestial equator, like the geographical latitude on Earth. But in the picture the label is at the angle for the axial tilt of the Earth.

;Determinant of the date of Easter
*In Western Christianity {{w|Easter}} always falls on the first Sunday after the first astronomical full moon after the beginning of spring (equinox). Thus it is defined by a combination of a solar and a moon calendar. The position of that angle isn't that bad but it should be not more than 30 degrees (slightly more than one month.)
*In mathematics, the determinant is a function of numerical matrices. In this context, however, it apparently refers to something that directly determines the date of Easter.

;Dimples of Venus
*The {{w|Dimples of Venus}} are indentations sometimes visible on the human lower back.
*In astronomy the {{w|Belt of Venus}} is a shadow cast by the Earth visible in its atmosphere.

;Enceliopsis
*{{w|Enceliopsis}} are small genus of flowering plants in the daisy family, appropriately known as "sunrays".
*In astronomy this point has also no specific meaning. But {{w|Enceladus}} is a moon around {{w|Saturn}}.

;Equinox / Solstice
{{w|Equinox}} and {{w|Solstice}} have very different meanings:
*An Equinox is one of two instants in the year when the sun is exactly over the equator; the length of day and night are very nearly equal that day at all locations on the planet, and (in the United States) it is the first day of Spring or Autumn, depending on the time of year.
*A Solstice is one of two instants in the year when the sun's angle is maximally far from Earth's equator; when one occurs, the length of the day or night is shortest or longest (depending on whether one is in the northern or southern hemisphere), and (in the United States) it marks the first day of summer or winter.

Both types occur because the Earth's rotation axis is tilted (at 23.4 degrees) from its orbital plane (ecliptic) about the Sun.

Jokingly insisting that two different terms are American/British variants of the same word has been the topic of [[1677: Contrails]].

;Hypothecate
*{{w|Hypothecate}} is a legal verb that means something similar to "make a mortgage".
*The depicted angle has no meaning, but a {{w|Hypotenuse}} is the longest side of a right-angled triangle. Here it is the shortest side on a non right-angled triangle.

;Obsequity
*Obsequity means the state of being obsequious (showing an indecorous willingness to obey or serve, or "sucking up").
*In astronomy the correct word is {{w|Obliquity}}, meaning an axial tilt.

;Perihelix
*This is a portmanteau of helix and perihelion.
*The {{w|perihelion}} is the point in a elliptical solar orbit that is closest to the Sun.

;Prolapse
*A {{w|Prolapse}} is a medical condition in which an internal organ is slipped forward or down.
*{{w|Retrograde and prograde motion}} are terms used to describe the apparent motion of celestial objects through the sky.

;Sagittal plane
*The {{w|Sagittal plane}} is an anatomical plane, dividing the body in left and right.
*The correct label in the picture would be the {{w|Ecliptic plane}}. The plane the Earth orbits the Sun.
*{{w|Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius}} is one of the stellar constellations of the Zodiac. The center of the Milky Way lies in this constellation.

;Solar plexus
*The {{w|Solar plexus}} is a network of nerves located in the abdomen.
*{{w|Solar}} is an adjective referring to the Sun, the star in our solar system.

;Tropopause
*The {{w|Tropopause}} is the boundary in our atmosphere between the troposphere and stratosphere, defined as the boundary where air ceases to cool with increasing elevation. It is 9-17 km above sea level, not the thousands of kilometers as depicted here.

;Angle between the Astral and the Sagittal Planes
* The angle depicted is the inclination of the moon orbit. The planes are marked with greeks letter, the angle is marked with a symbol resembling the greek ''phi'' (ϕ).

;Errata
* Errata are corrections in a published text (e.g. a newspaper article) issued after the publication.
* The angle depicted as errata is half the angular size of the sun, which has to match the lunar angular size to cause a solar total eclipse.

==Explanation for "Why isn't there a (solar) eclipse every month?"==

If the plane of where the Earth orbits the Sun and where the Moon orbits the Earth were completely aligned, then there would be a solar eclipse at every new moon (once every {{w|Orbit_of_the_Moon#Lunar_periods| 29.5 days}}) and a lunar eclipse at every full moon (half a lunar period about 14.7 days after a New Moon). However, the plane in which the Moon orbits the Earth is tilted with an inclination of 5 degrees relative to that of the ecliptic plane (the plane defined by the Earth's orbit around the Sun). Eclipses are only possible during two eclipse seasons each year (half a year apart) where for a period of 31 to 37 days the Sun is nearly aligned with the two points in the tilted Earth-Moon plane where the Moon crosses the ecliptic plane. During an eclipse season at the time of a new moon there will be solar eclipses visible from certain locations and during full moons there will be lunar eclipses.

[[Image:Eclipse_Diagram.jpg]]

The real explanation of eclipses is evident from this xkcd comic, but is labeled with a fictional character similar to a Greek phi but with two vertical lines; the remaining labels also do not contribute to this explanation and exist only to distract or misinform the reader.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[An orbital map of the Earth is shown. The Sun is in the center, the Earth is at the right bottom, and the Moon is left below the Earth.]
:'''Why isn't there an eclipse every month?'''
:This is a common question! The answer is made clear by a quick look at the Earth's orbital diagram:

:[Label Sun:]
:Solar plexus

:[Label on the Earth's plane:]
:Sagittal plane

:[Labels on Earth's orbit (beginning at the Earth counterclockwise):]
:Perihelix, Declension, Obsequity, Hypothecate, Enceliopsis, Equinox (''Solstice'' in British English)

:[Two angles in the plane are labeled as:]
:Determinant of the date of Easter, Arctangent

:[The plane of the Moon is pictured in a small angle to the Earth's plane and named Astral Plane. The angle is presented between two lines (Greek Nu or Gamma and a double Greek Chi) and identified by a character that looks similar to a Greek Phi but with two vertical lines.]
:[The labels at the Moon's path are:]
:Tropopause, Prolapse, Errata.

:[An arrow points to the Earth at the zero meridian on the equator. The label reads:]
:Dimples of Venus

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Astronomy]]

Talk:1752: Interplanetary Experience

2016-10-29T04:02:16Z

Magic9mushroom:

The Mars at sunset might also be reference to "alpenglow." A simple Google of "alpenglow" should suffice as explanation {{unsigned ip|172.68.54.126}}



The explanation starts out saying that this list includes all the other planets in our system as well as a couple moons, however uranus and saturn are clearly left off the list. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.37|108.162.238.37]] 15:16, 28 October 2016 (UTC)
:Retracted, I did not understand the hypen in the last line. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.125|172.68.78.125]] 16:18, 28 October 2016 (UTC)

Actually, the upper atmosphere of Venus has Earthlike temperature and Earthlike pressure - it is, indeed, pretty much the only planetary location in the Solar System safer enough than deep space to be worth the gravity well (you need a balloon to keep you aloft, oxygenated air, and protection from the sulfuric acid, but Earth air is a lifting gas on Venus so the first two solve each other). So "do not go to Venus" and "nowhere is even close to survivable except Earth" aren't quite true. The ''surface'' of Venus is absurdly inhospitable even to machines, but one shouldn't write off the whole planet so quickly. [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 04:02, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1255: Columbus

2016-09-10T10:38:29Z

Magic9mushroom:

Megan's version of the story is one big reference to the {{w|Silmarillion}}, in case you're wondering. [[Special:Contributions/100.40.49.22|100.40.49.22]] 06:00, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

I fail to see how the fact scholars and other educated people knew the Earth is round means he couldn't have difficulty getting sponsorship because of that. He wasn't asking scholars for sponsorship, did he? :-) Actually, according to {{w|Christopher_Columbus#Quest_for_support|wikipedia}}, "Columbus presented his plans to Queen Isabella, who, in turn, referred it to a '''committee'''" ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:14, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Because it wasn't just scholars - ''everyone'' knew that the world was a sphere. Sailors, for example, took the monumental task of noticing that when objects appeared in the distance, they seemed to "rise up" over the horizon (hence the phrase). For that to happen, the sea (and by extension the rest of the world) had to be curved.
[[Special:Contributions/109.76.209.186|109.76.209.186]] 12:08, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

: Farmers were famous for believing the world was flat, but it might as well just be city prejudice or jokes on farmers behalf. They would anyway be in the worst position to know any better. [[Special:Contributions/62.220.2.194|62.220.2.194]] 12:30, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

:: I was trying to make a joke. According to wikipedia again, it is recorded that the committee denied the request because of distance to Asia, therefore shown much more intelligence that committees tend to have on average. Still, he asked for sponsorship multiple people, which might include some who believed earth is flat. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:07, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

Looking at the moon and at the earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse would probably make many realize the earth is round. [[User:Ghaller825|Ghaller825]] ([[User talk:Ghaller825|talk]]) 12:45, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
:Unless "round" as in "circular", rather than "spherical". A disc-like Earth could give the same effect. A ''non-tidally-locked moon'' would have been an interesting thing for early understanding of the universe, as it would have shown a clearly spherical ball rotating and let the layperson imagine sphericality under their own feet a lot easier in their own childhood, thus flat-earthing would have been culturally invalid, not just lazy/unthinking. Whether or not farmers 'knew'/cared/were-told-by-the-church that the world was flat isn't really relevent on the scale of farming where you need to worry more about localised hills on your land than global curvature on its actual order of magnitude. Of course, in the absence of any other clues you tend to think of everything as flat as your (crudely worked) kitchen tabletop by default. [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 16:16, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

I am not sure what people knew and what they believed in earlier times. For example: {{w|M-Theory}} says that the space we live in has 11 dimensions. Assuming this is correct, what will people in 500 years say about us? Did we know it or did we not? Could we have expected what will hit us in a couple of years from out of one of the dimensions that we do not visually perceive?
To apply this to the quesion of whether they knew that the world was round: There is a {{w|Deep-sea_exploration#Milestones_of_deep_sea_exploration|story}} about Magellan (who certainly believed that the world was round because he tried to sail around it): He tried to measure the depth of the ocean with a 700m long rope. When the rope failed to reach the bottom, he concluded that the ocean was infinitely deep. Now how can a round object with a finite perimeter have and infinite radius? (I realize that wikipedia does not give any sources for the story and its origin is somewhat obscure, someone translated the story from the German wikipedia in July 2011; in the German wikipedia it had first appeared in 2006, but the story was around on German language websites since at least [http://www.scinexx.de/dossier-detail-40-11.html 2000]; I have no idea where it originally comes from, but it would be interesting to have a look at Magellan's ship's log if it had such a thing.)
[[User:Y4cy|Y4cy]] ([[User talk:Y4cy|talk]]) 13:41, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

:You suppose that the round earth is imbedded in flat 3-dimensional space. If it were’nt, you could easily have infinitely deep oceans. Maybe Magellan was way ahead of his time by thinking in non-Euclidean categories.
:(Explanation for non-mathematicians: Draw a circle – it surely has a finite radius, but if you measure the depth perpendicular to the sheet of paper, you could go infinitely deep. Now apply this to a round sphere and measure perpendicular to the 3D space you put it in.)
:--[[Special:Contributions/188.102.28.80|188.102.28.80]] 09:41, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

::Your example fails. Magellan sailed in ship with keel pointing in the direction of the depth he tried to measure. His success depended on the fact that earth is round IN THAT DIMENSION. Sure, there are geometries where the earth can be round in that dimension AND ocean would still be infinite, but, as you correctly mentioned, they would be non-euclidean, while your example with sheet of paper is (almost) euclidean. Also, dimension which would make possible to measure infinite distances is {{w|Brane cosmology}} - {{w|M-Theory}} would work perfectly well even in case all of those "extra" dimensions would be extremely small. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:07, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

:[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3082/ Journal of Magellan's Voyage] is an original source (in French) accessible online of this voyage, which could contain this story. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/178.26.118.249|178.26.118.249]] 19:36, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

[http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/a/arda.html Arda] was not [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/b/bentworld.html bent] until the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/d/downfallofnumenor.html Downfall of Númenor] in [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/chronicle.html?startyear=3319&startage=2 S.A. 3319]. When [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/e/earendil.html Eärendil] sailed into [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/w/west.html the West] in [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/chronicle.html?startyear=538&startage=1 F.A. 538] he did so on a topologically flat earth. It was the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/i/istari.html Istari], the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/greyelves.html Sindarin] belatedly answering the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/greatjourney.html summons of the Valar], [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/galadriel.html Galadriel] of the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/n/noldor.html Noldorin], [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/e/elrond.html Elrond] [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/h/halfelven.html half-Elven], and the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/r/ringbearers.html ring-bearers] of the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/t/thirdage.html third age] who took the [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/s/straightroad.html straight road] to [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/v/valinor.html Valinor]. --[[User:April_Arcus|April Arcus]] 01:44, 25 August 2013 (UTC)
* Nerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd. :) --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 07:34, 27 August 2013 (UTC)
: Oh yah, 'cos the rest of the comments/conversation on this page are just soooo hip :P [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 10:11, 30 September 2014 (UTC)

How is the title text related to the title text in 1256? Does Arwen visit the Undying Lands? [[User:Jd2718|Jd2718]] ([[User talk:Jd2718|talk]]) 12:06, 5 September 2013 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure Valar are immune to disease... [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.150|199.27.128.150]] 22:26, 28 December 2013 (UTC)
:And ''I'm'' pretty sure valar morghulis... wait, what? [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 10:11, 30 September 2014 (UTC)
:Valar, Maiar, and Elves are all disease-immune. Valar and Maiar can actually shed their physical bodies entirely. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.40|108.162.221.40]] 13:39, 13 July 2015 (UTC)
While the main inhabitants of the Undying Lands are undying in their own right, it may be that they also confer immortality. As I recall, the Numenorean invasion was based upon that belief. [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 10:38, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

844: Good Code

2015-12-21T12:11:19Z

Magic9mushroom: /* Explanation */ prescribed is the opposite of proscribed, and the context indicates the former was intended

{{comic
| number = 844
| date = January 7, 2011
| title = Good Code
| image = good code.png
| titletext = You can either hang out in the Android Loop or the HURD loop.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic references the common meme of programmers that one can't actually write good code. Either the code is done quickly with shoddy "code style", weak logical structure, or any number of other kludges and hacks which turn maintenance of the code into a nightmare; or else it is written well and beautifully structured, but can never be completed before changes in the situation cause the original code design to be insufficient for one or multiple reasons.

Either situation eventually leads to the need to completely start from scratch, designing and writing the program's code all over again. Of course, the writing of this new program is also locked in the perpetual cycle of choosing between ugly/bad code that works marginally well, or good/pretty code that never gets completed before being obsolete.

Additionally, the humorous point is being further emphasized for the primary target audience, programmers, by using an {{w|infinite loop}} - or more precisely, 2 possible loops and 1 forced loop in the flowchart itself.

Also, of particular note, is the fact that Randall (the author) drives home the point of the inescapability of the infinite loop(s) by the use of the additional, disconnected, and logically unreachable portion of the flowchart. This disconnect points out that the only way to actually get to "Good Code" using the flow chart would be to follow a path of actions — which does '''not''' start at the prescribed place — for which there is only an unknown and possibly unknowable starting action which no one has ever discovered previously. Other flowchart comics, several of which are also infinite loops, can be found [[:Category:Flowcharts|here]].

The title text, "You can either hang out in the Android Loop or the HURD loop," makes a dig at both communities: claiming that Android developers always opt for fast, ugly code, necessitating frequent fixes and updates, while Hurd developers perennially choose to "do the job right" but can therefore never seem to finish their project.

The [http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/ GNU Hurd Project] aims to create the kernel for the GNU Operating System (the kernel being the central and most indispensible component). The GNU Project is most famous these days as a result of GNU/Linux (commonly called just "Linux"), which is an operating system that uses the Linux kernel with the GNU system environment. From the beginning the GNU Project has planned to design their own kernel, [http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd/what_is_the_gnu_hurd/gramatically_speaking.html the Hurd], virtually from scratch, and given a relatively clean slate with which to work, elected to employ a number of [http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd-paper.html promising and theoretically elegant design concepts]. Despite or, as Randall suggests, because of this, the Hurd has been mired in development hell for many years (for decades, in fact) with little progress towards actual usability outside of a small community of kernel hackers. While [http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/ runnable GNU/Hurd operating systems] do exist, they're still basically experimental, and the Hurd remains a collection of research software the design goalposts for which keep receding as other, more pragmatically-engineered technologies continue to be developed (the Linux kernel itself being the canonical first instance of this).

Finally, the transcript of this comic is itself somewhat humorous (an additional {{w|In-joke|inside joke}}, if you will) in that it converts the flowchart into a simple list of instructions (aka pseudo-code) using numbered lines as reference points for identifying which instruction to read and follow next. This process is basically identical to the oft-maligned programming technique of using so-called "{{w|Goto|goto loops}}." — Furthermore, there is also a slight cross-reference between infinite loops and goto loops which is probably being referenced, in that goto loops are often criticized (whether accurately or not) as being more likely to create unintended infinite loops in code... primarily because of the difficulty inherent in keeping track of possible entry and exit paths, especially when making edits to the code at a later time.

==Transcript==
:[The comic is a flowchart In order to explain this in text, follow the line numbers. Options follow on new lines without numbers.]
:How to write good code.
:[10.] Start Project. [Go to 20.]

:[20.] Do things right or do them fast?
:Fast [Go to 30.]
:Right [Go to 40.]

:[30.] Code fast. [Go to 35.]

:[35.] Does it work yet?
:No [Go to 30.]
:Almost, but it's become a mass of kludges and spaghetti code. [Go to 50.]

:[40.] Code well. [Go to 45.]

:[45.] Are you done yet?
:No. [Go to 40.]
:No, and the requirements have changed. [Go to 50.]

:[50.] Throw it all out and start over. [Go to 10.]

:[60.] ? [Go to 70.]

:[70.] Good code.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Programming]]

Talk:488: Steal This Comic

2015-12-21T11:39:19Z

Magic9mushroom:

I'm not sure how credible Natural News is.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/NaturalNews
Then again, I'm not sure how credible RationalWiki is, either. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 16:08, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:I'm not sure how credible The Internet is. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 06:43, 25 September 2013 (UTC)
:Replacing that NaturalNews link with a link to the same story on The Guardian. --[[User:Alex|Alex]] ([[User talk:Alex|talk]]) 14:26, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
"Steal this Comic" refers to the TPB-related "Steal this Film" and not to "Steal this Book" unless I'm very much mistaken. Also, it needs an explanation of what DMCA 1201 is and why it makes "getting your stuff back" illegal (it is, IIRC, the anti-circumvention clause, which says that breaking DRM, even for a legal purpose, is illegal; thus, getting your stuff back, ordinarily a perfectly legal act, is illegal if it involves getting around the DRM). [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 11:39, 21 December 2015 (UTC)

1557: Ozymandias

2015-07-29T23:43:37Z

Magic9mushroom: Ozymandias is another name for pharaoh Rameses II of Egypt. Ancient Egypt is not fictional.

{{comic
| number = 1557
| date = July 29, 2015
| title = Ozymandias
| image = ozymandias.png
| titletext = And on the pedestal these words appear: "And on the pedestal these words appear: "And on the pedestal these words appear: "And ...
}}

==Explanation==
[[Ponytail]] is reciting the opening of "{{w|Ozymandias}}" by {{w|Percy Bysshe Shelley}} (see [[#Ozymandias text|text]] below). However, instead of continuing on with the poem, Ponytail is going through a recursion where the information is always being quoted from "a traveler from an antique land" who recounts what they were told by a similar traveler from another antique land. The title text once again plays with recursion, but instead of it being a string of travelers talking about travelers, it is a string of pedestals that are quoting pedestals. (In the original poem, the text on the pedestal is itself recounted as part of the traveler's story, so there are already two levels of quotation.)

The poem Ozymandias is about the last vestiges of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt once-great civilization] that has since been lost to history. However, the poem itself, like the statue it describes,can be thought of as a pinnacle of achievement for its civilization- in this case, English civilization. So it is entirely possible that one day, after the fall of this civilization, the poem will fill the same role for it that the statue filled for Ozymandias' civilization, and would therefore be referenced by a traveler from an antique land who stumbled across it.

The fact that Ponytail is now telling [[Cueball]] the story of this recursion implies that she is yet another layer of this recursion and is herself "a traveler from an antique land."

The quotes are not nested properly, as they never end. So there is only the starting quotation mark (") for each quote. If she ever finishes there would be one closing quotation mark for each quote in the recursion at the end of her sentence.

The poem is a {{w|sonnet}} written in {{w|iambic pentameter}}, 10 syllables to a line (note that traveler should be read as trav'ler with only two syllables. Also note that it was originally written in British English where it was spelled with two l's as ''traveller''). The fragment quoted in the comic consist of the first line and two syllables of the second line of the original poem. The way Ponytail recites her version of the poem in the comic, each line continues to be iambic pentameters (which is the reason for the hyphenation of an-tique between 2nd and 3rd line). However the fourth and last line stops two syllables short, but would have continued as indicated by ... Perhaps Randall did this to avoid finishing in mid word ("a trav-").

The title text quotes exactly one line, the 9th line or the first line of the second part of the poem, also stopping during the fourth repetition, although after just one word the fourth time, also with ... to indicate that this goes on and on and...

The poem "Ozymandias" is mentioned on pages 169 and 170 of the book ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=mjThBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA169&lpg=PA169&dq=Ozymandias+recursion&source=bl&ots=atqSnLbGZP&sig=cXeyE-vAQm9UzBh2k7O0ooHrQr0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAGoVChMI8_echsL_xgIVSZiACh009gnS#v=onepage&q=Ozymandias%20recursion&f=false Recursive Desire: Rereading Epic Tradition]'' by Jeremy M. Downes.

===Ozymandias text===
:I met a traveller from an antique land 
:Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone 
:Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, 
:Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, 
:And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, 
:Tell that its sculptor well those passions read 
:Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, 
:The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed: 
:And on the pedestal these words appear: 
:'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: 
:Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' 
:Nothing beside remains. Round the decay 
:Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare 
:The lone and level sands stretch far away."<ref name="Shelley1826">Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Ozymandias" in ''[https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=MZY9AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA100 Miscellaneous and Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley]'' (London: W. Benbow, 1826), 100.</ref> 
<references/>

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail, with her arms stretched out, is addressing Cueball.]
:Ponytail:
:I met a traveler from an antique land
:who said: "I met a traveler from an an
:-tique land, who said "I met a traveler from
:an antique land, who said "I met ...

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Recursion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]