explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3011: Europa Clipper

2024-11-13T12:53:26Z

ModelD:

I'm not brave enough to actually add an explanation myself, quite yet, but ... I guess this is a reference to the fact(?) that Europa looks a bit like a creme brulee', when viewed from space? https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/moons/europa/ It does look tasty ... :) [[User:ModelD|ModelD]] ([[User talk:ModelD|talk]]) 12:53, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

Talk:3008: Proterozoic Rocks

2024-11-07T14:26:51Z

ModelD:

So the last panel refers to the unseen birth of a rock? How are rocks even born?:
:Farther - does is mean father back, or further ahead in time? If ahead it could mean Randall do not think there will be any eyes left to see in 500 million years time. Which is not unlikely. Earth will not stay inhabitable much longer than that (probably 800 million years, then the seas will have evaporated). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:30, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:A few ways. Fusion likely formed many elements, and neutron star death possibly the rest of the naturally occurring ones. When those started sticking together they would form rocks. The type likely being referred to here is probably sediment being compressed and former a cohesive stone, magma crystalizing, or compression of the latter two types of rocks into different types of rocks. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.124.222|172.71.124.222]] 06:52, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:I think in this context it was by up welling magma and they are only rare because plate tectonics and erosion has recycled 99.9X% of them. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 07:58, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Makes me think of the manga ''Houseki No Kuni'' (''Land of the Lustrous'') and how effortlessly it depicts thousands and millions of years passing in a blink. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.228|162.158.159.228]] 08:00, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Guess Randall didn't want to acknowledge the results. Can't say I blame him. [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 08:16, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:Well it did end in an all black panel... Like his mood. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:30, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:Maybe he thinks she can still win? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.31.39|172.71.31.39]] 13:05, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:Oh, I think everything in this comic speaks that Randall is acutely aware of the results. Meditating on eon-old stones is a mental health exercise. I feel him. - and gave the explanation a try. [[User:Transgalactic|Transgalactic]] ([[User talk:Transgalactic|talk]]) 13:49, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Oh, I ''like'' that title text. It has a poetic quality. (It refers to when various part of animal anatomy first evolved, but does so in a really nice way.) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.24|162.158.74.24]] 08:47, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

I'd suggest that the explanation should at least include the other interpretation of "farther", namely "farther back in time". I think that's the more obvious one, personally: he's saying these rocks are a billion years old, eyes evolved 500 million years ago and that vast abyss of time "stretches back as far as the eye can see ... and then 500 million years farther" [back]. As in, these rocks existed for 500 million years in a world where there were no eyes. Right? I don't know how the future got involved, it seems to be pretty clearly about the past.[[User:ModelD|ModelD]] ([[User talk:ModelD|talk]]) 14:25, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Talk:3008: Proterozoic Rocks

2024-11-07T14:25:59Z

ModelD:

So the last panel refers to the unseen birth of a rock? How are rocks even born?:
:Farther - does is mean father back, or further ahead in time? If ahead it could mean Randall do not think there will be any eyes left to see in 500 million years time. Which is not unlikely. Earth will not stay inhabitable much longer than that (probably 800 million years, then the seas will have evaporated). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:30, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:A few ways. Fusion likely formed many elements, and neutron star death possibly the rest of the naturally occurring ones. When those started sticking together they would form rocks. The type likely being referred to here is probably sediment being compressed and former a cohesive stone, magma crystalizing, or compression of the latter two types of rocks into different types of rocks. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.124.222|172.71.124.222]] 06:52, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:I think in this context it was by up welling magma and they are only rare because plate tectonics and erosion has recycled 99.9X% of them. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 07:58, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Makes me think of the manga ''Houseki No Kuni'' (''Land of the Lustrous'') and how effortlessly it depicts thousands and millions of years passing in a blink. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.228|162.158.159.228]] 08:00, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Guess Randall didn't want to acknowledge the results. Can't say I blame him. [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 08:16, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:Well it did end in an all black panel... Like his mood. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:30, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:Maybe he thinks she can still win? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.31.39|172.71.31.39]] 13:05, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:Oh, I think everything in this comic speaks that Randall is acutely aware of the results. Meditating on eon-old stones is a mental health exercise. I feel him. - and gave the explanation a try. [[User:Transgalactic|Transgalactic]] ([[User talk:Transgalactic|talk]]) 13:49, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Oh, I ''like'' that title text. It has a poetic quality. (It refers to when various part of animal anatomy first evolved, but does so in a really nice way.) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.24|162.158.74.24]] 08:47, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

I'd suggest that the explanation should at least include the other interpretation of "farther", namely "farther back in time". I think that's the more obvious one, personally: he's saying these rocks are a billion years old, eyes evolved 500 million years ago and that vast abyss of time "stretch back as far as the eye can see ... and then 500 million years farther" [back]. As in, these rocks existed for 500 million years in a world where there were no eyes. Right? I don't know how the future got involved, it seems to be pretty clearly about the past.[[User:ModelD|ModelD]] ([[User talk:ModelD|talk]]) 14:25, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2875: 2024

2024-01-02T11:00:49Z

ModelD: Question about number of U.S. Supreme Court justices

It [[wikipedia:List of presidents of the United States by age|appears]] that only three US presidents so far have lived for over 30 years since their last election: Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, and (technically) George H.W. Bush. One other (John Adams) had made it to 29. In addition, Gerald Ford had lived for over 29 years after the end of his presidency (and over 30 years after its start) but had technically never been elected. Of course none of those five were two-term presidents so they in any case would not have been restricted from further election by the 22nd amendment (and John Adams additionally wasn't affected by it due to having died prior to its ratification). --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.200.134|172.70.200.134]] 22:42, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
:I don't think he's suggesting that 30 years is enough -- that's only when half the tooth cells have been replaced. So we have to resort to dentistry and replace all the teeth. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:10, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

I've just made some "content and flow" edits to bring the Explanation up to a reasonable spec of explanatoriaciousness (which I fully expect to be buffed up and/or trimmed by others). I didn't ''directly'' explain that SCOTUS has nine (or more!) voting members, but there's the link(s) I added where this gets fairly well qualified for the person who might need to know this, and I refrained from suggestion reasons why one or both of the more recent Presidents might be best 'forgotten' (depending upon a person's own considerations on each matter), etc... I actually think that if all nine SCOTUSii all decided in one direction on the issues of Obama's teeth then it would be because of ideologically opposing views lining up by pure accident (e.g. some see/do not see pulling teeth as a valid way of becoming President for a third term, the rest see/do not see the pulling of teeth from Obama as laudible but would expect the next step to fail to happen for entirely separate reasons). And if someone definitely knows if FDR wore dentures (or not), particularly in his last five or so years, then that can surely be inserted as a valid (counter-)justifying fact. Anyway, probably done with my own polishing. For the moment, certainly. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.243|172.69.194.243]] 03:34, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
:According to the book [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Party_Politics_in_the_Age_of_Roosevelt/NttsEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22franklin+d+roosevelt%22+dentures&pg=PA148&printsec=frontcover Party Politics in the Age of Roosevelt] by Michael P. Riccards and Cheryl A. Flagg, FDR did have a ''partial'' denture to replace two of his front teeth, but that wouldn't satisfy Ponytail's plan. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.40|172.70.127.40]] 04:13, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

I don't understand the reference to there being only 8 justices on the Supreme Court ... As far as I can tell, on January 1 2024 there are 9, unless I'm missing something? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States [[User:ModelD|ModelD]] ([[User talk:ModelD|talk]]) 11:00, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2867: DateTime

2023-12-14T18:18:47Z

ModelD: Question for the group

Comics like this are why this wiki exists. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.172|172.70.100.172]] 23:30, 13 December 2023 (UTC)
:The time falsehoods gist linked above is a really good explanation about why a programmer might panic about calculating time. Especially the ones about calling "getCurrentTime()" twice in a row doesn't always mean the results are in the order you think they were called, or even different values. t2 might very well be the same or less than t1. It can be maddening. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.197.149|162.158.197.149]] 23:40, 13 December 2023 (UTC)
::The last item is the most important to me: ''Users prefer to use the local timezone.'' This causes so much frustration while browsing the web! [[File:PissedOff.gif]] --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.110.68|162.158.110.68]] 00:26, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
::Worth noting that events can take place over long periods. A sunspot or an illness or a relationship doesn't happen at a single point in time, it takes place over days or weeks or longer. When did it "start"? Who knows? Also I miss calling TI4-1212 here in DC. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.175.27|172.70.175.27]] 01:39, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
::Out of curiosity, could someone explain the item in that time falsehoods list that says "Months have either 28, 29, 30, or 31 days"? My guess is that it's a reference to their being more calendars in the world than Gregorian? But I'm not sure if there's more than that going on, there.[[User:ModelD|ModelD]] ([[User talk:ModelD|talk]]) 18:18, 14 December 2023 (UTC)

Related insanity on Computerphile with Tom Scott: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-5wpm-gesOY [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 03:54, 14 December 2023 (UTC)

Even with just Special Relativity, the question doesn't really make sense, because the answer will depend on the inertial reference frame. "Impossible to know and a sin to ask" is not a bad way to describe questions about non-invariants. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.189|162.158.154.189]] 08:09, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
:Is it even ''possible'' for two observers to agree on the answer and be sure that it's correct for both of them? [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 16:53, 14 December 2023 (UTC)

I can see Randall's point, so for your average everyday programming I'd say "please use a library function instead of trying to do it yourself, or you'll end up like the guy in the lower frame..." --[[User:IByte|IByte]] ([[User talk:IByte|talk]]) 11:02, 14 December 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2854: Date Line

2023-11-21T13:27:53Z

ModelD:

The 'standard' and '2x' sized images had unexpected sizes, so a Trivia section has been automatically generated, and an imagesize parameter has been added (at half size) to render the image consistently with other comics on this website. --[[User:TheusafBOT|TheusafBOT]] ([[User talk:TheusafBOT|talk]]) 22:56, 13 November 2023 (UTC)
: I see no evidence of this, so the Trivia section should probably be removed. The comic appears standard sized on XKCD (both in the page and if opening the direct link), and the link in the Trivia also leads to a standard size image. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:19, 19 November 2023 (UTC)
:: Things have been known to be corrected. For whatever reason, TheusafBOT detected the initial issue (since it was made to do so, these problems recently having occured in other comics and caused problems) and it certainly ''was'' worth the automatic note making to make people aware of the (probable) discrepancy.
:: Without looking into possible webarchived material, or delving too deep into the current stock, I think it's worth keeping a small note (just as when the original "neeeded" was corrected to "needed" in a title text, etc), but obviously reword it as being no longer true (and/or change link to the erroneous size's archive location, if there is one?). I would also then see no problem with fully excising the 'BOT announcement here (and your response and this response to that) here on the Talk page.
:: If you'd prefer to excise the "Trivia", then I suggest transfer the gist (not header) here to Talk as a quote/indent, so future readers know what we're talking about, and leave this part of the fuss intact. (Same for any other such 'corrected' anomolies you can find needing sorting out in other comics, albeit their Talk elements are probably thankfully unaugmented by this particular metaⁿ-discussion.)
:: I'm sure if you edit it all how you want to, though, it'll all be critically assessed by every other editor who cares (myself, I care little about this particular issue, just 'best wiki-keeping practices' in general, not liking to lose information that has been 'true') and modified/whatevered at ''their'' whim, just as we gladly honour/humour your own edits.... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.208|172.70.85.208]] 14:32, 19 November 2023 (UTC)
:: Meant to add: the "evidence" for it is in the following comments, editors who witnessed this. Which is good enough for me to be a fact (and not even a {{template|fact}}). [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.68|172.71.178.68]] 14:38, 19 November 2023 (UTC) (aka 172.70.85.208, above, in case that has changed)
Is it just me or are these size errors becoming more common? What going wrong in the infra?
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.90|172.69.62.90]] 22:57, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

:Yeah, and this one came in HUGE. The image size upon loading the comic at xkcd.com was 6642x7838. At first, I thought it was a special comic or an interactive one. But just huge. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 00:25, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

added an explanation [[Special:Contributions/172.70.174.61|172.70.174.61]] 23:49, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

The IDL might not normally be straight, but when the rocket pulls in it, it will straighten it out. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:54, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

The Kentucky State Police resent the implication about their organizational infrastructure.

I like how this comic came out the same day (in UTC+10) as I am studying Earth geometry including the IDL. Nice little coincidence. [[User:OmniDoom|OmniDoom]] ([[User talk:OmniDoom|talk]]) 03:46, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

Why's there a missing line of latitude? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.140.145|172.68.140.145]] 05:47, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
:That is actually a good question. Seems like an error. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:01, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
: I would assume the lines that are shown are intended to be the equator, tropics, and arctic circle (antarctic being hidden out of view), being the most commonly known lines of latitude.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.151|172.70.85.151]] 12:04, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
:: The latitude lines, the top one is obviously the Arctic Circle. The next goes through the northern part of Africa, making it the Equator. Next would be a Tropic. Where's the northern Tropic? (I always mix up Cancer and Capricorn, I want to go with Cancer). Missing line. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:19, 19 November 2023 (UTC)
:I think it's just the angle. If viewed from the side (instead of diagonally above as in the image), I think they would appear more equidistant. Or maybe they're based on a different projection entirely, that wouldn't be out of character for Randall either. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.254|172.70.46.254]] 12:08, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
:: No, the northern Tropic is missing. After Arctic it shows the Equator, there should be a Tropic in between. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:19, 19 November 2023 (UTC)
::I'm not seeing the problem, I guess? The northern Tropic passes through northern Africa; that's not the equator. The equator passes through the *middle* of Africa (south of India, through Indonesia and the Philippines, etc.), so from the north pole the drawing does show the Arctic Circle, then the Tropic of Cancer, then the equator, then the Tropic of Capricorn way down at the bottom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropics#/media/File:World_map_indicating_tropics_and_subtropics.png

Even if the lines were actual physical strings/ropes, they appear to be lying right on the earths surface instead of being suspended in mid air. So how would a rocket accidentally get snagged on one? You'd have to purposefully shove the rocket between the earth and the line before launch. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 08:39, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
:Well, obviously you wouldn't want ships/trains/etc hitting them as they moved longitudes(/latitutudes) or timezones, so they must be held up out of the way by skyhooks. Probably also above plane travel, or we'd see them being snagged quite often...
:Noting that I had to caveat the idea of the Russian launch-site, as NASA seems to be the named agency needing to fix the mess. Could of course be 'Hollywood Exceptionalism', regarding who it is who <s>leads</s> saves the world. Or ''actual'' expertise such as might have actually helped with the Kursk submarine, in a pinch (except that, geoplitically, currently it'd probably take even longer for Russia to deign to request assistance from the US than 23 years ago).
:I also, for brevity, skipped the needless pedantic analysis of typical 'first orbit' trajectories from ''all'' [https://aerospace.csis.org/data/spaceports-of-the-world/ current launch sites], worldwide, so as to work out whether any others might encounter such a North Pacific crossing-point at 'first hit' (after which, it's clearly high enough to not snag again). Depending on launch eccentricity, it's feasible from practically any of them, naturally. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.51|172.69.195.51]] 10:37, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

:Maybe it was a submarine launched rocket.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.53|172.70.86.53]] 12:06, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

:It's obviously North Korean. Russia disclaims any involvement. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.143|172.71.102.143]] 08:42, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

I think the "about 2 in the title text references the Windows approximate download times dialogs - GreyFox [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.133|172.71.150.133]] 18:31, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
:It's not. They were about to say an absolute time, e.g. "by approximately 12:00" but they realized absolute time is paused so they gave a relative time instead. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 22:39, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

This looks devastating for western Europe and western Africa. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 22:39, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

I just tripped over the 90º24’ line. What is with these new strings? [[User:TenGolf MathHacker|TenGolf MathHacker]] ([[User talk:TenGolf MathHacker|talk]]) 15:12, 15 November 2023 (UTC)