explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2765: Escape Speed

2025-08-27T04:12:06Z

Me a meep sheep: /* Extra Escape Speed pages */

{{comic
| number = 2765
| date = April 19, 2023
| title = Escape Speed
| image = escape_speed_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x700px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Gotta go fast.
}}
{{series
| series = April
| number = 14
| date = April 19, 2023
| days_late = 18
| day_category = Wednesday
| prev_title = 2601: Instructions
| prev_date = April 1, 2022
| next_title = 2916: Machine
| next_date = April 5, 2024
| extra_text = [[#Trivia|Learn why this comic was released late]].
}}
{{TOC}}To experience the interactivity of the game, visit the {{xkcd|2765|original comic}}!

== Explanation ==
{{notice|See [[#Spaceships]] to help complete this page.}}
This interactive comic is similar to [[2712: Gravity]], which celebrated the release of ''[[What If? 2]]'', as you can visit different planets. Your fuel runs out and recharges slowly over time or instantly whenever you land. Likewise, there is no "universal" point of view: the bottom of the window, "down", is oriented towards the object exerting the most gravity upon the player.

You begin on the Starting Planet, near Origin. To escape Origin's gravitational force, gain enough momentum by swinging a few times inside the large hidden tunnel that goes from the rollercoaster to the opposing side of the planet. However, note that it is possible to escape Origin’s gravitational pull by maneuvering the spacecraft counterclockwise around the Starting Planet, accelerating tangential to the surface above the figure yelling "WOW!". To help you find other planets there are also many small circles surrounding the spaceship indicating the locations of nearby or distant planets depending on how transparent these points are. Collecting circles with a star outline will improve the performance of the spaceship, such as by making the engine more efficient or increasing the rate at which the fuel recharges, and sometimes make you find a new item. Collecting small grey circles will instead just make you find an item, such as a rock with neat stripes, a cool bug, and a pretty leaf.

Most planets and celestial objects are inside of a large Crystal Sphere in which there is a visible navigable crack. Halfway through the crack, gravity gets increasingly stronger as the spaceship feels the gravitational force of the parts of the Crystal Sphere it is leaving behind. Above the crack in the Crystal Sphere, there is the Star Destroyer from [[1608: Hoverboard]], and on the opposite side of the crack, there is a huge part of the world in [[1110: Click and Drag]] in the form of a round planet.

The title of the comic is likely a reference to the 1996 computer game {{w|Escape Velocity (video game)|Escape Velocity}}, which also featured a 2D map dotted with planets. The title text says, "Gotta go fast.", a reference to {{w|Sonic the Hedgehog (character)|Sonic the Hedgehog}}'s catchphrase, and the point of the game: getting able to go faster to escape larger and larger planets and leave the Crystal Sphere.

===The Hyperdrive===
The Hyperdrive is a powerful upgrade to the spaceship that massively boosts your thrusters. It is found at the center of the Boston Planet and is needed to explore the planets outside the Crystal Sphere and to escape from the black hole inside the Subway Planet. It can only be unlocked after deactivating the MIT Cloaking Device on the Subway Planet and collecting three of the four subway tokens found at different "Bostons". Subway tokens are circles with a T outline, and they have a distinct color: "blue", "red", "green", and "orange", the four colors of {{w|MBTA subway|Boston's subway system}}. The blue token on the Boston Planet is not strictly necessary to get the Hyperdrive, although it is the easiest to obtain. Note that getting it will require several other upgrades first, so it shouldn't be your first objective. See [[#Celestial Bodies and Collectable Items|the table below]] for other ways to progress in the game.

Here's how to obtain the Hyperdrive:
# Get to the Subway Planet by launching from the bush where someone says "Shhh." on Origin. The Subway Planet features all the subways of North America except Boston, which has been ripped out and hidden by the MIT kids, leaving a big empty hole in the crust of the planet.
# Once on the Subway Planet, go to Morgantown, WV via Mexico City and Atlanta, and deactivate the MIT Cloaking Device to make the Boston Planet appear.
# Follow the two intangible grey lines that will first guide you to Origin and then the Roche Lobe Earth (one of the four Bostons) and collect the green subway token on it.
# Go back to Origin and collect the orange token on the Guitar Ship (see [[#Celestial Bodies and Collectable Items|the table below]] for instructions on how to find these planets).
# Get to the East Coast of the US on the Projection of Earth and collect the red token.
# Now that the center of the Boston Planet is accessible, go there and collect the Hyperdrive. The planet also contains the final blue token, but it's not necessary to get to the Hyperdrive.

===Escape Speed speed glitch crash ===

Why the game likely crashed
Physics engine exhaustion: The Crystal Sphere's gravity and collision mechanics are intended to trap I. When I repeatedly bypass this with extreme speed, the physics engine must perform a series of highly unusual and complex calculations. After four successful exploits, it's likely the fifth attempt created a state the engine wasn't designed to handle, leading to a crash.
Collision detection failure cascade: I am likely hitting the sphere at a "seam," a weak point where its polygon mesh connects. With each successful tunnelling, I am stressing the physics engine's collision detection. By the fifth time, it may have failed, leading to a fatal error.
Browser-specific issues: As a browser-based game, Escape Speed's performance can be affected by browser version, hardware, and open tabs. This is mentioned in some Reddit threads concerning the game. My high-speed exploit likely pushed my browser to its limit, resulting in the crash.
Physics time step error: The game uses a "constant physics tick rate" to smooth out gameplay. My high-speed "tunnelling" might be creating an event that conflicts with this fixed timestep, causing a calculation overflow or a data corruption that leads to a crash.
Ir recording is key
Since I am recording this, I have valuable evidence of a reproducible bug. Contact for more
Email: s223191@scusd.net
Subject: xkcd: Escape Speed - Reproducible crash on 5th physics exploit.

===Celestial Bodies and Collectable Items===
This is a table of all celestial bodies and items, in descending order of planet size (the Starting Planet, Origin, and the Hollow Planet are at the top for their relevance). Collectable items and messages are found in the "You found...", "Upgrades", "Messages" and "Subway tokens" columns. For more detailed and in-depth tables and lists, see [[2765: Escape Speed/Tables|here]]. Here are some other useful resources:

* [https://aeromancer.dev/xkcd/escape_speed/ Map of the entire universe created by the community];

* [[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots|Screenshots of the entire world, planets, and celestial bodies]] made using the map;

* [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hygJKdwjkufAU3ZYC4NELdCX7XgRdOIW68vPUidR9qA Spreadsheet of all items and messages] from the game's source code;

* [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc Spreadsheet of coordinates for all celestial bodies] from the game's source code.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! rowspan="2"|Name

<code>codename</code>
! rowspan="2"|Tiles (X, Y)
! rowspan="2"|Explanation
! colspan="4"|Collectable items and messages
|-
! You found...
! Upgrades
! Messages
! Subway tokens
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Starting Planet|Starting Planet]]

<code>tiny-world</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (6024, -8976)]
| To get here, click the "Home" button in the lower right corner of the comic.

The planet is tiny, grassy, and has few trees. [[Media:2765 Greetings.png|Beret Guy is saying "WOW!"]], but since he's on the other side of the planet, it looks like he is shouting "iMOM". This is a reference to the title text of [[1117: My Sky]], and it could also be a reference to [[502: Dark Flow]]. Pressing the "Home" button to go back to the starting planet shows the message, "Welcome back, pilot", which may be a reference to the greeting that plays when re-entering a Titan in the ''Titanfall'' video games.
|
* a rock with neat stripes
* a cool bug
* a pretty leaf
|
|
* Wheeee!
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Origin|Origin]]

<code>origin</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (3096, -5904)]
| To get here, launch from [[Media:2765 Greetings.png|Beret Guy saying "Wow!" on the Starting Planet]].

The planet has a [[Media:Origin Planet11.png|sign saying "Welcome to Origin! You can never leave™"]]. A [[Media:Origin and starting planet.png|large hidden tunnel inside it]] leads from below the rollercoaster to the [[Media:Origin Planet5.png|St. Louis Arch on the opposing side of the planet]], which you can use to gain enough momentum to escape the gravitational force if you don't have many upgrades. There are lots of landmarks and signs that mark the directions to different planets.
|
* a secret glade
* a holographic Charizard business card
* a 5G seagull
* a DVD of The Core (2003)
* a normal-looking leaf
* a marsh wren
* an orb wren
* a single grain of salt
* 11 squares packed into a larger square
* a tumbleweed
|
* Nice flying! (Your tanks recharge faster now.)
|
* You found a tiny meteorite!
* Welcome to liminal space
* The St. Louis arch is also known as the gateway to space.
* Be careful; this roller coaster can be disorienting!
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Hollow Planet|Hollow Planet]]

<code>hollow-shell</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-13952, 1848)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet5.png|St. Louis Arch on Origin]].

The planet is just a shell with some gaps. On the outside, there are lots of landmarks and signs that mark the directions to different planets.
|
|
* You found a handful of the quantum foam that makes up the fabric of space! (Your tanks recharge much faster now.)
* You found a sixth lagrange point! (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* You found a glass of heavy water (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Star Destroyer|Star Destroyer]]

''from'' <code>star-destroyer-a</code> ''to'' <code>star-destroyer-i</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (18192, -130000)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:2765 Crack in the Crystal Sphere.png|crack in the Crystal Sphere]].

The planet has been copied from [[1608: Hoverboard]], with the only difference being that Darth Vader's dialogue was changed from referencing {{w|Steven Universe}} to {{w|The Murderbot Diaries}}.
|
* an unread email
* a glass slipper with a glass foot in it
* a lymphocyte
* a forged resume
* a serif
* a Bursa of Fabricius
* a cluster of data points
* a premium subscription to food
* two goats and a new car
* an out-of-control trolley
* a helium-238 nucleus
* the Death Star plans
|
* You found a perpetual motion fidget spinner! (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
* You found a vintage Juicero juicer! (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
|
* Hmmm.
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Click and Drag Planet|Click and Drag Planet]]

<code>clickdrag-nw</code>'','' <code>clickdrag-ne</code>'','' <code>clickdrag-sw</code>'', and'' <code>clickdrag-se</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-31808, 111808)]
| To get here, launch from the bow or stern of the Star Destroyer tangentially to the Crystal Sphere to orbit it and keep the stars in the background moving horizontally on the screen until you see a dot around the spaceship guiding you.

The planet has mostly been copied from [[1110: Click and Drag]] and modelled to form a round planet, so the drawings are very tiny. The large rocket has been changed from the original look, possibly as a reference to {{w|SpaceX}}. Originally, it had no gravity, and the spaceship was only attracted by the gravity of the Crystal Sphere. This made navigating around the planet difficult, so a later update added gravity to it to make it easier for players to explore it.
|
* an ant the size of Rhode Island
* a pin with 17 angels dancing on it
|
* The vehicle below gives you a boost (Your launch speed has increased.)
* We should turn back (Your engine gets a bit more powerful.)
* You found an expert at underwater ropes. (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* You found a trisected angle! (Your launch speed has greatly increased.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Subway Planet|Subway Planet]]

<code>subway-planet</code> ''and'' <code>black-hole-3</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (22000, 34000)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet10.png|bush where someone says "Shhh." on Origin]].

The planet is a reference to [[1196: Subways]] and is riddled with tunnels. Boston has been ripped out and hidden by the MIT kids, leaving a big empty hole in the crust of the planet, and there is a black hole at the center that can only be escaped with the [[#Hyperdrive|Hyperdrive]]. You need to find the switch that turns off the MIT Cloaking Device to help you get the Hyperdrive. Once found, two intangible grey lines will appear (on the Subway Planet and on Origin), guiding you to one of the four Bostons. Learn how to obtain and use the Hyperdrive [[#Hyperdrive|here]].
|
* a relativistic bowling ball
* a Cybiko® wireless handheld computer for teens (2000)
* a handful of quantum foam
* a normal-sized apple
|
* You get the feeling you're not in Kansas anymore (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
* There is no parking in the white zone (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* The next stop is Interplanetary Terminal G (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You feel accomplished (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found a brightly-lit billboard (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* You found a hot dog (Your launch speed has increased.)
* You found a bottle of Coke Absolute Zero! (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* You found a beige electron! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found $30 in Yahoo! cash! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found a friendly cat! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
* Transfer here for Mornington Crescent
|
* MIT Cloaking Device deactivated! Boston detected. (Blue, red, green, and orange lines activated.)
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Boston Planet|Boston Planet]]

<code>mbta</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-42000, 8000)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Shuttle Skeleton.png|back of the Shuttle Skeleton]].

The planet is the Boston subway system that was ripped out from the Subway Planet by the MIT kids. The Hyperdrive, needed to explore the planets outside the Crystal Sphere, is at the center of the planet, which is only accessible after getting the green, red and orange subway tokens. The blue token is not strictly necessary to get the Hyperdrive, although it is the easiest to obtain. If the player goes to the location of the Boston Planet before turning off the MIT Cloaking Device, they will only find an invisible region out in space that has gravity, at the center of which a "strangely heavy subway token" can be found. The gravitational force around it remains even after the token is collected. As hinted by Blondie on Andal, the MIT Cloaking Device doesn't affect gravity, therefore the cloaked Boston planet is intangible and invisible, but its mass still affects the gravitational field around it.
|
* a strangely heavy subway token
|
|
|
* Blue line deactivated!
* Welcome to MIT! You acquired a hyperdrive!
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Projection of Earth|Projection of Earth]]

<code>earth-map</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-15808, 22192)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet13.png|Earth map landmark on Origin]] or the [[Media:Hollow Planet3.png|sign on the Hollow Planet]].

The planet is a huge, distorted map of all land masses on Earth. The spaceship can fly where water would be, but it can't go over land. This planet is a reference to the [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|Bad Map Projections series]] of comics.
|
* the Heart of the Ocean
* a whale shark
* some microbial life
* some tin from the pantai remis mine
* a sparkling gem
* a piece of pumice
|
* You found the Principality of Sealand! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found a Rhode Island the size of an ant! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found an icosahedral d10 (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
* Red line deactivated!
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#What If? Planet|What If? Planet]]

<code>gravity-earth</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-46000, -24000)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet7.png|two people explaining where Boston is on Origin]], the [[Media:Round Planet5.png|left of Stonehenge on the Round Planet]], or the [[Media:Guitar Ship1.png|left rim of the Guitar Ship]].

The planet contains several scenes from Randall's ''[[What If? 2]]'' book and the comic [[2712: Gravity]]. Megan and Cueball are floating inside a small space in the center of the planet, which can be reached after getting the Hyperdrive. This is arguably the most remote object within the Crystal Sphere, since all the planets around it are very distant from it. On this planet, a person named Ryan is stuck in a small hole with a dog, a reference to [https://www.polygon.com/2015/8/18/9173621/ryan-north-stuck-hole-twitter a real event] that happened to [https://www.qwantz.com/ Dinosaur Comics] author {{w|Ryan North}}. Nearby is featured the T-rex from his iconic comic strip, in the pose of the last panel.
|
* an eye in the sky
* a stick
* an asterisk
* a sterile neutrino
* a secret leaf
* a pair of squirrel goggles
* a large hadron
* a smooth green snake
|
* You found a sunken treasure (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* The Yellowstone Super What? (Your launch speed has increased.)
* Nutritional Facts - Serving Size: 1 Cloud, Total Calories: 0 (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You captured the flag! You decide to leave it there, but it's yours. (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found a steam calliope! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found a dna base pair! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Uzumaki|Uzumaki]]

<code>uzumaki</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-3904, -26904)]
| To get here, launch from [[Media:Origin Planet9.png|the spiral landmark on Origin]], the [[Media:Hollow Planet.png|sign on the Hollow Planet]], or below the [[Media:Round Planet2.png|plane-towed banner on the Round Planet]].

The planet is a large spiral of grass inspired by the manga ''{{w|Uzumaki}}'' by {{w|Junji Ito}}. A Roomba is loose, a reference to [[1558: Vet]].
|
* a golden radio tuned to 1.618 MHz
* a scroll lock key
* a primordial black hole
* a cool pair of shoes with flames on the side
* an ink cartridge
* a podcast episode
* a festive but somehow unnerving holiday card from Junji Ito
* a friendly bee
* a spiral-cut diamond
* a burrito
|
* You found a tree-filled grove and a nice spot for quiet contemplation (Your thrusters are significantly more efficient now.)
* You found a single caffeine molecule! (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
|
* Exit Only
* You're going the wrong way!
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Round Planet|Round Planet]]

<code>orb</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-19154, -7288)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet6.png|tower with an orb on it on Origin]] or the [[Media:Hollow Planet1.png|sign on the Hollow Planet]].

The planet is moderately small with no vegetation and some architecture, such as [[Media:Round Planet5.png|Stonehenge]] and the [[Media:Round Planet8.png|Great Wall of China]].
|
* a swatch pop-out wristwatch
|
* You found a sensible cheese platter (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
* ''[no message]'' (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Jurassic Park Planet|Jurassic Park Planet]]

<code>gravity-qwantz</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (20000, 11000)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet3.png|small dinosaur on Origin]] or the [[Media:Andal4.png|Andalites on Andal]].

The planet is covered in dinosaurs from [https://www.qwantz.com Dinosaur Comics] and has very weak gravity. It is an exact copy of the Dinosaur Planet from [[2712: Gravity]].
|
* a tiny pteranodon
* a baby hedgehog
* a tattered knapsack containing about $194,00 in $20 bills
|
* Today is a good day I think for space exploration (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* But what if gravity doesn't actually exist? (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Andal|Andal]]

<code>platform-planet</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (12048, 14048)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet3.png|Andal landmark to the left of the pyramids on Origin]] or [[Media:Origin Planet4.png|below Saturn's equator on Origin]], when the soccer ball is oriented to the bottom left compared to the spaceship.

The planet is small and has a T-shaped tower, mountains, and grass.
|
|
* You found two Andalites, one canonical! (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* What a nice place for a ship to sit! (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
* You found a friend (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* You found baby shoes (and baby)! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Comet 67P|Comet 67P]]

<code>67p</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (18048, -11152)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet3.png|duck next to the "Caution: long vertical drop" sign on Origin]].

The planet is a reference to the comet {{w|67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko}} and contains the crashed Rosetta spacecraft, along with the Philae lander that landed on it in 2014. The message "Anyone for Scrabble later?" on the planet is a reference to [[470: The End is Not for a While]].
|
|
* Some people believe that when the Earth appears in the sky, it's a harbinger of doom. (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
* You found a broken smoke machine (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* Anyone for Scrabble later? (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found The Long Now Foundation's nickel paperweight containing an archive of every published Animorphs book! (Your launch speed has increased.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Guitar Ship|Guitar Ship]]

<code>guitar-ship</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-12000, -30000)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet8.png|musicians singing "It's more than a feeling" on Origin]].

The planet is a huge guitar labeled "Boston", with the city skyline under a dome on the back. It is a reference to the cover art of the album {{w|Boston (album)|''Boston''}}.
|
* a guitar pick
|
|
|
* Orange line deactivated!
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Saturn|Saturn]]

<code>saturn</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (2600, 14000)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet4.png|pyramid with Saturn on it on Origin]]. If you see the Spacetime Soccer Field, you're too far left.

The planet has a soccer ball inside it, a reference to [[2513: Saturn Hexagon]].
|
* a really cool data point
|
* You found a pair of platonic solids, not quite touching! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found a block of scandium! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Roche Lobe Earth|Roche Lobe Earth]]

<code>earth-roche</code> ''and'' <code>normal-moon</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-9952, -3952)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet6.png|landmark that looks like a very round cannon firing a cannon ball towards the towers on Origin]].

The planet is a distorted Earth being attracted by the gravity of the moon, which makes the Earth look like a giant drop of water. See ''{{w|Roche Lobe}}'' for more information.
|
* a curious humboldt squid
* a bathyscaphe
* a wayward Roomba full of moondust
|
|
|
* Green line deactivated!
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Giant Spider|Giant Spider]]

<code>spider</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (26982, -8714)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet1.png|spider landmark on Origin]].

The object is a giant spider floating in space with eight people standing on top of his legs.
|
* a spider-silk scarf
|
* You found a friendly jumping spider (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Dark Matter Planet|Dark Matter Planet]]

<code>dark-matter</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-2892, 2640)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Spacetime Soccer Field1.png|goal on the half of the field with just one person on it on Spacetime Soccer Field]].

The planet is small and grey, and it has the words "Dark matter" inside. On its surface, there are two squirrels and Ponytail exclaiming "I found it!", a reference to [[2186: Dark Matter]]).
|
|
* You found a delicate music box. (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Shuttle Skeleton|Shuttle Skeleton]]

<code>space-shuttle</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-30200, 14576)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet5.png|Shuttle Skeleton landmark on Origin]] or Northwest from Alaska on the Projection of Earth.

The object is a reference to the Space Shuttle Skeleton from [[2630: Shuttle Skeleton]].
|
* a piece of space shuttle food
|
* A little upgrade works wonders on fuel efficiency (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Diffraction Spikes Star|Diffraction Spikes Star]]

<code>diffraction</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (-19944, 11240)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet5.png|back of the left "hand" of the Shuttle Skeleton]] or the north of Alaska on the Projection of Earth.

The object is a tangible spiky star, a reference to [[2762: Diffraction Spikes]].
|
* a hydrogen ion

* a piece of coronium (iron)
|
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#SafetySat|SafetySat]]

<code>safetysat</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (17024, 1024)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet2.png|cell tower on Origin]].

The object is a reference to [[1992: SafetySat]].
|
* a first of its kind
|
* ''[no message]'' (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* The more refined oil had a dinner engagement (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Spacetime Soccer Field|Spacetime Soccer Field]]

<code>soccerfield</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (6048, 4048)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet4.png|pyramid with a soccer ball on it on Origin]].

The planet is reference to [[2705: Spacetime Soccer]] and consists of a central white body, goals on the poles, and intangible lines farther away.
|
|
* GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found the 3 million point line (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* You found a sunspot! (Your launch speed has increased.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Voyager 1|Voyager 1]]

<code>voyager-1</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (1606, -14282)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet9.png|communication device saying "Receiving transmission" near the spiral landmark on Origin]].

The object is a satellite flying in space around Origin. It's a recreation of the {{w|Voyager 1}} space probe.
|
|
* You found Voyager 1! Some of its great speed rubs off on you. (Your engine thrust has increased significantly.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Voyager 2|Voyager 2]]

<code>voyager-2</code>
| [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (10682, -5172)]
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet1.png|communication device saying "Receiving transmission" near the spider landmark on Origin]].

The object is a satellite flying in space around Origin. It's a recreation of the {{w|Voyager 2}} space probe.
|
|
* You found Voyager 2! Some of its great speed rubs off on you. (Your engine thrust has increased significantly.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Crystal Sphere|Crystal Sphere]]

''from'' <code>ring-1</code> ''to'' <code>ring-36</code>
|
| To get here, launch from anywhere and keep avoiding planets until you hit it.

Most planets and celestial objects are inside of a large Crystal Sphere, in which there is a visible navigable crack. Halfway through the crack, gravity gets increasingly stronger as the spaceship feels the gravitational force of the entire Crystal Sphere. Despite a person on Origin saying that "there's no way you'd be able to escape [the Crystal Sphere's] gravitation pull. You'd need some kind of a Hyperdrive for that", it's actually possible to get out of the Crystal Sphere without the Hyperdrive (but the spaceship won't be able to stay in the air for more than a second without being pulled back). You can also escape by going fast enough and ramming through. Above the crack, there is an arch made up of the repeating words "The End", which is reminiscent of the "Don't leave the play area" message in [[1608: Hoverboard]] that appeared when the player tried to get out of it. A crystal sphere was previously mentioned in [[1189: Voyager 1]] and [[2121: Light Pollution]].

|
* a necklace of element samples whose symbols spell out your name
* the platinum cylinder formerly used to define the kilogram
|
* A significant boost to the engines for a curious pilot (Your engine thrust has increased significantly.)
* You found the gold crown Archimedes stole! (Your engine thrust has increased significantly.)
|
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Crack in the Crystal Sphere|Crack in the Crystal Sphere]]
|
| To get here, launch from the [[Media:Origin Planet9.png|two characters talking about "shooting for the Moon" on Origin]] or the [[Media:Hollow Planet.png|"Exit" sign on the Hollow Planet]].

This section of the Crystal Sphere was violently removed, similarly to how Boston was ripped out from the Subway Planet, leaving jagged edges and construction materials visible. Judging by the shape of the edges of the crack, it doesn't look like the Crystal Sphere is made of crystal. As noticed by Ponytail in the Hollow Planet, when the player is inside the Crystal Sphere, they don't feel a gravitational pull from the huge structure, but when they're outside, the spaceship feels the gravitational force of all the celestial bodies it is leaving behind, resulting in an very strong pull towards the interior of the Crystal Sphere. Above the crack, there is an arch made up of the repeating words "The End", which is reminiscent of the "Don't leave the play area" message in [[1608: Hoverboard]] that appeared when the player tried to get out of it. The Crystal Sphere may be a reference to {{w|The Crystal Spheres}}, a short story by science fiction author David Brin which suggests that each star with habitable planets in the universe is surrounded by a crystal sphere that can be broken only from the inside and is otherwise completely impenetrable.
|
|
* There is a way out (Your launch speed has increased.)
|
* Right lane must turn right
* Left lane must turn left
|
|-
! 
[[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots#Open Space Outside the Crystal Sphere|Open Space Outside the Crystal Sphere]]
|
|To get here, go through the Crack in the Crystal Sphere or try to no-clip the sphere by .
|
|
* It is very lonely out here (Your tanks recharge much faster now.)
* You found a needle in a haystack (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* From here you can view the source of it all. (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
|
|}

===Spaceships===
{{incomplete|Need to:
*Upload the files of the spaceships, in the best resolution available (Click on the '''<code>filename</code>''', download it, and then click the red link.)

*Describe them better and explain how to obtain them.

*Reorder them in a way that makes sense, and add an introduction to the table explaining how spaceships work in the comic (How do you get them? Can you pick and choose them?, etc.) }}
These are the available (???) spaceships. To change them manually, right click outside the comic image and then select "Inspect". Then, go to the "Console" tab at the top and copy and paste this into the console: (Put the ship name in between the quote marks.)
Comic.ship = ""

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Name !! Image !! '''<code>codename</code>''' !! Explanation
|-
! Paper Plane
| [[File:Paper Plane.png]]
| <code>[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/paperplane/landed.png paperplane]</code>
| changes the spaceship into a paper plane.
|-
! Default Ship
| [[File:Default Ship.png]]
| <code>[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/bubble/landed.png bubble]</code>
| The default spaceship.
|-
! Default Ship 2
| [[File:Default Ship 2.png]]
| <code>[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/ship1/landed.png ship1]</code>
| The default spaceship from "Gravity", available only if you inspect the website as described above.
|-
! Small Bubble
| [[File:Small Bubble.png]]
| <code>[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/small-bubble/landed.png small-bubble]</code>
| A smaller version of the default spaceship.
|-
! USS Enterprise
| [[File:USS Enterprise.png]]
| <code>[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/carriagereturn/landed.png carriagereturn]</code>
| The USS Enterprise from [[:Category:Star Trek]], presumably a pun on "Enter".
|-
! Flyable Lamp
| [[File:Flyable Lamp.png]]
| <code>[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/lamp/landed.png lamp]</code>
| A lamp that shoots light down/up/left/right.
|-
! Flyable Lamp 2
| [[File:Flyable Lamp 2.png]]
| <code>[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/lamp/landed.png lampacity]</code>
| Also a lamp?
|}

==Hacks==
Some of the modes and hacks from [[2712: Gravity]] also work in this comic and can be activated by opening the browser console (F12, Ctr+Shift+I or Cmd+Option+I to open your browser's developer tools, then choose the "Console" tab) and typing a command.
{{cot|Hacks}}
* <code>python("import antigravity")</code> flips the gravitational pull. It's a reference to comic [[353: Python]].
* <code>noclip = true</code> disables collision detection.
* <code>Comic.gravityConstant = 0</code> turns gravity off (default is 100).
* <code>Comic.voyager.opts.speed = 0.1</code> increases engine power (default is 0.04).
* <code>Comic.voyager.opts.thrustDuration = 1000</code> provides extra fuel (default is 3.5).
* <code>Comic.voyager.opts.turnSpeed = 0.008</code> increases your turning speed (default is 0.002).
* <code>[Comic.voyager.pos.x, Comic.voyager.pos.y] = [1177, 6755]</code> teleports the spaceship to Saturn ([https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc Coordinates list].)
* <code>Comic.map.items</code> is an array of the findable items, and <code>Comic.map.locations</code> is an array of places.
* <code>ship.engines = "infinite improbability drive"</code> moves the spaceship to random locations, in a reference to the Heart of Gold from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
* <code>ze.goggles()</code> once again prints "they do nothing!"
* <code>ship.shields = false</code> turns the entire screen black when you collide with something.

[[User:CruseCtrl|CruseCtrl]]'s wayfinder adds a blue dot to show where the nearest collectable is.
Paste this into the JavaScript console:

const waypointDiv = document.createElement("div");
waypointDiv.style = "position: absolute; left: 50%; top: 50%; width: 6px; height: 6px; background: blue; border-radius: 99px;";
document.getElementById("comic").appendChild(waypointDiv);
const findClosestObject = (voyager, xPos, yPos) => {
let bestDist = Infinity;
let bestObject = null;
for (const object of voyager.objects.filter((o) => !voyager.gotObjects.has(o.id) && o.visible?.())) {
const dist = Math.sqrt((xPos - (object.x1 + object.x2) / 2) ** 2 + (yPos - (object.y1 + object.y2) / 2) ** 2);
if (dist < bestDist) {
bestDist = dist;
bestObject = object;
}
}
return { object: bestObject, dist: bestDist };
};
const everyFrame = function (state) {
const { object, dist } = findClosestObject(Comic.voyager, state.x, state.y);
if (!object) {
waypointDiv.style.display = "none";
return;
}
const objectX = (object.x1 + object.x2) / 2;
const objectY = (object.y1 + object.y2) / 2;
const angleToObject = Math.atan2(objectY - state.y, objectX - state.x);
const waypointAngle = angleToObject + Comic.voyager.cameraAngle;
const waypointDistance = 10 + 2 * dist ** (1 / 3);
const waypointX = Math.cos(waypointAngle) * waypointDistance;
const waypointY = Math.sin(waypointAngle) * waypointDistance;
waypointDiv.style.transform = `translate(${waypointX}px, ${waypointY}px)`;
};
const oldOnFrame = Comic.onFrame.bind(Comic);
Comic.onFrame = function (...args) { everyFrame(...args); oldOnFrame(...args); };

The following script stops the momentum of the spaceship, which can be useful after seeing a planet without being able to slow down in time:
window.onkeydown = function(e){if(e.key == 'p'){Comic.gameHandle.playerConfig.maxSpeed = 0; setTimeout(() => {Comic.gameHandle.playerConfig.maxSpeed = 100;},10)}}
{{cob}}

== Transcript ==
:'''[This transcript only covers the starting page as shown on {{xkcd|2765|xkcd.com}}. A full transcript of the entire comic can be found [[2765: Escape Speed/Transcript|here]].]'''

:[What is shown on xkcd it what is known as the Starting planet. It is a small planet. On top of it is a small spaceship standing on two legs. It has a circular shape on top of the legs with a round window. Next to it is a small tree which is higher than the spaceship. This is the spaceship to be controlled by the user. The planet has grass all around, and the entire planet is visible. But the ship is in the center, so most of the planet is in the lover part of the panel. The background around the planet is a star-studded black backdrop. Going around the planet to clockwise from the small tree, there are two more trees with some small bushes between the first small tree and the two next trees. A larger tree is on the opposite part of the planet. Between the two trees and this there is a small bush and the Beret Guy who looks and point up from his point of view (down as seen in the image as he is on the opposite side). He is exclaiming a word. After the largest tree next to him, come a small tree. Before that Cueball and Megan stand together. On the last part back to the spaceship there is another small bush. There are also four gray dots. One above the spaceship. One between the first three and the two. One above the largest of the two trees together. And the final near the bush to the left of the spaceship. Those four dots are part of the game and can be removed if the ship touches them. In the bottom right corner of the panel there is a small white square with a black house drawn upon it. There are two small black dots beneath it. A curved arrow goes below the house from the right to the left dot. This is the home button that will always take the player back to this starting window. To the very right of the panel on height with the spaceship there is a white bar about three times the height of the spaceship. This bar indicates how much energy the spaceship has. It always refuels immediately after landing anywhere.]
:Beret Guy: Wow!
:[As Beret Guy is upside down, so is his words. They can thus easily be read as MOM as they are written, as always, in all caps.]

:[As part of the game there are messages appearing the first time you enter the comic, and every time you return to home of to the comic from another comic. Although they are not part of the image, they do appear on the home image. These messages appear as black text in a rectangular white panel with a black border. The messages are only on screen for a short time. On a mobile phone browser "Use the arrow keys" is "Tap the sides of your screen". The three situations follow here:]

:[First time opening the game in a new browser there are two messages one appearing after the other:]
:Greetings!
:Use the arrow keys, pilot.

:[When pressing the home button only one message appears:]
:Welcome back, pilot.

:[When reloading or going to the page after having been in another page or having shut down the program and opening again, there will be two messages:]
:Welcome back! We saved your progress.
:Use the arrow keys, pilot.

:[When moving past the grey dots text is revealed in a similar manner to the greetings text. If it is items, then they are collected and listed beneath the panel under the heading "You've found:" A bulleted list will then start to grow beneath this as you play the game and collect items.]

:'''[For more transcripts from the rest of the game go to the [[2765: Escape Speed/Transcript|full transcript page]].]'''

== Trivia ==
This was the most delayed [[April Fools' Day comics|April Fools' Day comic]] so far, as it was 18 days overdue. When it was released, unlike [[1663: Garden]], there was no mention of April fools' Day. The comic [[2757: Towed Message]] was released closest to April 1st on Friday March 31st, and the following comic, [[2758: My Favorite Things]], was released on schedule on Monday April 3rd. This comic was so delayed that it was not released until Wednesday April 19th, which led to some debate in whether this was meant to be an April Fools' Day comic. On May 15th, 2023, [https://chromakode.com/ Max Goodhart], aka Chromakode, published an article titled "[https://chromakode.com/post/xkcd-gravity-escape-speed/ Development notes from xkcd's "Gravity" and "Escape Speed"]". Max was one of the developers for this comic and the earlier [[2712: Gravity]], and was credited in the [[Header text#Escape Speed|header text of this comic]]. At the top of the article, he writes "On April 20th, xkcd published Escape Speed, the 14th annual April Fools comic we've made together". This settled the debate, as it was now clear that this was meant to be the April Fools' Day comic of the year. This [[explain xkcd]] explanation is the most-categorised page on the wiki.{{acn}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with animation]]
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
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[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]] 
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Talk:3037: Radon

2025-08-27T00:49:44Z

Me a meep sheep:

The sun is a white star. It looks yellow from within the atmosphere because blue light is scattered out of it, the same reason the sky is blue. How did physicist Randall not know that? [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 20:26, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:Randall is almost certainly a Superman fan, and we all know that Kryptonians get their powers from yellow suns. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:07, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:Wikipedia disagrees; The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star (G2V), informally called a yellow dwarf, though its light is actually white. It formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of matter within a region of a large molecular cloud. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.23.87|172.71.23.87]] 20:43, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
::Your quote agrees with me. As @Starstar says below, it might be intentional on his part. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 20:53, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
::: No "his quote" doesn't?? (Unless I'm understanding your meaning with "his quote") Yes the sun is White. HOWEVER, it is NOT called a "white star". Stars aren't categorized by color but by tempeture. Which I mean I guess it sorta means their catagorized by color but thats being nitpicky. Our sun is 5,772 K, which according to wikipedia means its a class-G star which is known by the not nerds as a yellow dwarf. Being a physicist means Randell is VERY aware of the category of our Sun. Repeat, the Sun is called a "yellow dwarf", therefore is Ponytail said "white star", she'd be talking about a star that is 9000 K and therfor NOT our Sun. Seriously this was like a 5 minute google search. [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 21:01, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
::: At any rate, I believe it plays into Ponytail just goofing around more than being precise [[User:Starstar|Starstar]] ([[User talk:Starstar|talk]]) 22:12, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:Perhaps it is intentional? [[User:Starstar|Starstar]] ([[User talk:Starstar|talk]]) 20:36, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

Possible trivia: The effect used in the title text for "²³⁸Umbrella" does NOT use html formatting. It uses unicode for the almost-but-not-technically superscripted "238" before "Umbrella." On some systems, this renders with the "23" being larger than and slightly below the level of the "8". Whether Randall knew of this effect or not is a mystery. If he did know, his motivations are a mystery. Maybe the 8 is radioactive and emitted a non-massless particle, thereby making it smaller (less mass != less volume, but go with it here) and more buoyant (less weight) in the presence of the adjacent characters. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.227.105|198.41.227.105]] 21:19, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:You can't use HTML markup in the title attribute, so there's no other way to do super/sub-scripting there. He could have used JavaScript to emulate the title attribute, though. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:38, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
::I see no issue with the title text's 238 when on a PC neither on xkcd or here. The numbers are all similar. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:22, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

What do people think of Hairstylist Wannabe's near-total rewrite of the explanation? While they added lots of technical details about radon, I think they missed much of the humor. Ponytail's comments are typical of the kind of things a home inspector or repair person will say to the owner, not really "flippant". [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:48, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:I like the facts but i changed the joke explantion back. [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 22:07, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:The rewrite has waaaaay too much detail. This site is for explaining what's going on in a comic, not repeating everything you know that's related, however remotely, to the comic. Just add wikilinks to things! Like, do we really need to have repeated here how much 238U the Earth contains? How much radiation one experiences from uranium? I vote to remove a lot of the detail and just explain the comic. [[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 23:45, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

Possible trivia: 238 Umbrella is a common weight for a patio umbrella stand. {{unsigned|TallJason|22:53, 13 January 2025}}

I started to write another paragraph:
:The primary reason why the radon is considered more deadly than the original uranium (and thorium) is its nature as a heavy gas; the earlier states of decay remain stuck in the original rock, interstitially, whereas radon more freely leaches out. This quickly disperses to extremely diluted levels in the open air but, being a gas that is denser than air, it can accumulate to low (but potentially significant) levels in a cellar or basement, having few natural air-currents to drive the heavier gas atoms out of the sump in which the radon sits. Although each atom does not last long in this state, the resulting polonium, bismuth or lead atoms (all being isotopes that are themselves radioactive) ''can'' find themselves drifting as dust particles initially (and, after settling, easily disturbed), with the potential
...but it got out of hand. Was going to edit it down (and correct anything I'd accidentally mispoken/misedited/ispunctuated, in the initial fervour) when I'd finished, but I've got to go somewhere, so leaving it as possible inspiration for someone else to use/ignore/tear part/whatever. Have fun. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.92|172.68.205.92]] 23:50, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
: "possible inspiration for someone else" Good stuff, but surely it already exists (without xkcd context) many other places? Can be just linked? [[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 02:33, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

I thought, the title text was a reference to nuclear umbrella. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.200|172.68.50.200]] 07:45, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

"This process will render the Earth uninhabitable for humans within approximately 5 billion years." That seems very optimistic. Isn't it more like 1 billion years? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 10:05, 14 January 2025 (UTC)
:Yes the Earth will become uninhabitable in close to but less than a billion years. But not because the sun is expanding at the end of it's life. But because it gets hotter and begins to strip the Earths atmosphere, and this also means the end of the oceans. When they are gone, complicated life forms should not be possible. Bacteria could live until the sun possibly engulfs the Earth (it is not certain if this will happen though.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:22, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

This comic sparked a tangentially related discussion at [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Chemistry#Radon_and_Radium_spectral_lines Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Chemistry#Radon and Radium spectral lines], leading to the discovery that the spectra given on Wikipedia for multiple chemical elements (including Radon) had been wrong since 2013 -- the result of a bug in a 15-year-old Matlab plugin. [[User:Rexon Mobile|Rexon Mobile]] ([[User talk:Rexon Mobile|talk]]) 17:03, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

I'm removing th[e] paragraph [on radiation dose] entirely, since it's wildly incorrect and adding negative value; I may or may not have time to add a more accurate discussion later, if someone else hasn't done so first:

<blockquote>The actual amount of uranium experienced</blockquote>

You're actually talking about the total background radiation exposure, not specifically radiation from uranium (and one wouldn't normally describe exposure to radiation from uranium as "experiencing uranium" in any event).

<blockquote>in any given environment,</blockquote>

No, on average across all individuals, in all environments; the amount of background radiation exposure will be much higher in some environments than in others.

<blockquote>according to Randall's own Radiation chart, is 10 microsieverts worth of radiation, on average,</blockquote>

Across all individuals.

<blockquote>over a year</blockquote>

Over a ''day''. It literally says that in the entry in the chart.

<blockquote>the amount in one's body,</blockquote>

The amount of radiation exposure due to potassium decay within one's body.

<blockquote>in contrast, is about 390 microsievert over that same timeframe,</blockquote>

No, that one actually is per year.

<blockquote>again on average. The lowest dose linked to any serious risk is in the millisievert range, over thousands of times stronger than any of these sources. Thus the radiation from radon buildup in a normal house is not of concern,</blockquote>

No, the ''average'' amount of radiation exposure per individual -- averaged across the entire population, who vary wildly in not only the uranium content of the local soil, but also the characteristics of their basements, and even in whether they ''have'' a basement at all -- is not a concern. There are plenty of "normal" houses in which the radiation from radon buildup is a concern; there are just also plenty of other "normal" houses in which it is not.

<blockquote>as long as it is properly managed in time. Instead it is radon's toxicity that is the problem, both from the radon itself and its "daughter" isotopes, that poses a danger to humans.</blockquote>

This is absolutely false. Radon and its daughter products are dangerous to humans precisely because of the ionizing radiation they emit, which has a tendency to produce lung cancer when decay occurs within the lungs (in the inhaled air for radon itself, or attached to floating dust particles for daughter isotopes). Radon itself isn't poisonous in a chemical sense at all -- as a noble gas, it doesn't react with other substances under normal conditions. Some of the daughter products ''are'' chemically poisonous, but are still far more dangerous for their radioactivity than for their chemical properties (e.g., lead-214 is far more dangerous than a similar quantity of any of the stable lead isotopes (206, 207, and 208)).[[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.191|172.70.127.191]] 20:35, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

I think the title text has umbrella and cover because umbrellas cover things. {{unsigned|Awesome person|20:47, 15 January 2025}}

mēëêèép

Rob

2025-08-27T00:30:56Z

Me a meep sheep:

{{Infobox character
| image = Rob.png
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = '
| first_appearance = [[14:Copyright]]
}}

<noinclude>:''For a list of comics, see [[:Category:Comics featuring Rob|Comics featuring Rob]].''
:''For the generic Rob, see [[Cueball]].''</noinclude>

'''Rob''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]]. Rob has no identifying features and is a [[Cueball]]. In most cases, he seems to represent the same character, usually being portrayed as [[Black Hat]]'s roommate. He is one of the few of Randall's characters to be given a name. In [[276: Fixed Width]], his screen name appears as "rob", and in [[723: Seismic Waves]] he is posting on the internet as "robm163". In [[838: Incident]] his username appears as "robm". In [[1783: Emails]], Cueball replies to his email in the title text. After the Emails comic, Rob is not mentioned for 800 comics before the name is used in [[2584: Headline Words]]. Cueball is also in this comic, but it seems like Cueball represents Randall rather than Rob in the comic.

==Name==
{{incomplete|Summarise the discussions that led to the name used in this wiki, like we did for [[Cutie]], [[Cueball]], [[Danish]], etc.}}
The name for this character was discussed at length. See the following [[explain xkcd:Community portal|Community portal]] topics:
* [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals#Cueball/Rob|Proposals § Cueball/Rob]]
* [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals#Merge Cueball & Rob|Proposals § Merge Cueball & Rob]]
* [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob|Proposals § Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob]]
* [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699)|Proposals § New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699)]]

==Relationships==
Rob had a relationship with a woman known as <emily> on IM. This ended tragically in [[276: Fixed Width]] when he told her the relationship was only for sex while he wasn't really paying attention to what he was writing; he just wanted their chat responses to line up nicely on the screen. Two years later, in 2009, he had a relationship of a few months with what ended up being a spam bot. He discovered this when he asked the bot to pass what it calls a VK test, a reference to the world of Blade Runner, where they use a Voight-Kampff (VK) test to help determine if someone is a replicant. This happened in [[632: Suspicion]].

In [[647: Scary]] we find that he has a nephew born after September 11, 2001, but by 2009 he was old enough to have discussions with Rob about it.

In [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] it seems that Rob is [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] roommate. In fact, it's possible that within the xkcd continuity, every time we see Black Hat's roommate, it's Rob. But with no name mentioned it is not enough to list these comics as comics featuring Rob.

he first appers in https://xkcd.com/14/

{{navbox-characters}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Minor characters]]

Rob

2025-08-27T00:29:30Z

Me a meep sheep:

{{Infobox character
| image = Rob.png
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = '
| first_appearance = [[276: Fixed Width]]
}}

<noinclude>:''For a list of comics, see [[:Category:Comics featuring Rob|Comics featuring Rob]].''
:''For the generic Rob, see [[Cueball]].''</noinclude>

'''Rob''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]]. Rob has no identifying features and is a [[Cueball]]. In most cases, he seems to represent the same character, usually being portrayed as [[Black Hat]]'s roommate. He is one of the few of Randall's characters to be given a name. In [[276: Fixed Width]], his screen name appears as "rob", and in [[723: Seismic Waves]] he is posting on the internet as "robm163". In [[838: Incident]] his username appears as "robm". In [[1783: Emails]], Cueball replies to his email in the title text. After the Emails comic, Rob is not mentioned for 800 comics before the name is used in [[2584: Headline Words]]. Cueball is also in this comic, but it seems like Cueball represents Randall rather than Rob in the comic.

==Name==
{{incomplete|Summarise the discussions that led to the name used in this wiki, like we did for [[Cutie]], [[Cueball]], [[Danish]], etc.}}
The name for this character was discussed at length. See the following [[explain xkcd:Community portal|Community portal]] topics:
* [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals#Cueball/Rob|Proposals § Cueball/Rob]]
* [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals#Merge Cueball & Rob|Proposals § Merge Cueball & Rob]]
* [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob|Proposals § Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob]]
* [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699)|Proposals § New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699)]]

==Relationships==
Rob had a relationship with a woman known as <emily> on IM. This ended tragically in [[276: Fixed Width]] when he told her the relationship was only for sex while he wasn't really paying attention to what he was writing; he just wanted their chat responses to line up nicely on the screen. Two years later, in 2009, he had a relationship of a few months with what ended up being a spam bot. He discovered this when he asked the bot to pass what it calls a VK test, a reference to the world of Blade Runner, where they use a Voight-Kampff (VK) test to help determine if someone is a replicant. This happened in [[632: Suspicion]].

In [[647: Scary]] we find that he has a nephew born after September 11, 2001, but by 2009 he was old enough to have discussions with Rob about it.

In [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] it seems that Rob is [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] roommate. In fact, it's possible that within the xkcd continuity, every time we see Black Hat's roommate, it's Rob. But with no name mentioned it is not enough to list these comics as comics featuring Rob.

he first appers in https://xkcd.com/14/

{{navbox-characters}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Minor characters]]