explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3162: Heart Mountain

2026-03-19T07:38:39Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ link to 3210 for the sherlock reference

{{comic
| number = 3162
| date = October 31, 2025
| title = Heart Mountain
| image = heart_mountain_2x.png
| imagesize = 669x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Even geology papers about Heart Mountain are like, "Look, we all agree this 'volcanic gas earthquake hovercraft' thing seems like it can't possibly be right, but..."
}}

==Explanation==

The structure of the {{w|Heart Mountain (Wyoming)#Geology|geology of Heart Mountain}}, in Wyoming, is a geological anomaly whose current best scientific explanation is highly unusual. This is humorously summarized as, "49 million years ago, Heart Mountain, Wyoming slid sideways 15 miles like a giant stone hovercraft", with a similarly oversimplified functional diagram. Those not following the evidence that leads to this unusual conclusion may decide those involved do not have a normal state of mind ('are not doing ok'), and potentially sliding into pseudoscience like that of {{w|Pyramidology}}. The geologists acknowledge this, but ask, "Hey, you come up with a better explanation!" - as all more 'reasonable' explanations have been eliminated, and only the [[3210:_Eliminating_the_Impossible|seemingly absurd remain]].

The main anomaly is that the rock at the top of the mountain is far older than that of its base. There are {{w|Nappe|other processes}} that can result in such {{w|inverted stratigraphy}}, but in this case the evidence does indeed seem to suggest that sometime 48-50 million years ago (most likely 48.9 Mya) a massive landslide was rapidly (in parts at the quoted speed of 90 mph (145 km/h), or more, lasting perhaps just ''half an hour'') forced to slide a significant distance over younger rocks, through the contribution of one or other volcanic processes on and above a near-horizontal {{w|Fault (geology)|geological fault}}.

While the comic implies the mountain by itself levitating on volcanic gasses as it moved across the ground, Heart Mountain is in reality a remnant closer to the leading edge of a massive landslide (the Heart Mountain Detachment) that covered several thousand square kilometers of the Absaroka basin. It would have accompanied and been partially or fully buried by other, looser debris before being uncovered by erosion. However, the remainder of the landslide debris over younger rocks either did not remain upright during the landslide or has been eroded away. Many of the other remaining upright formations did not slide nearly so far, still remaining above older rock formations. Therefore, Heart Mountain remains as the main rock formation with the anomalous inverted stratigraphy caused by the landslide.

As an added bonus, the first 'European' maps of the mountain also {{w|Heart Mountain (Wyoming)#Hart Mountain|may have placed it}} in the wrong position, but this was purely human error and totally unconnected to the prehistoric rearrangement of material.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is on the left, Ponytail is facing him from the right.]
:Cueball: We haven't checked in on the Geology Department for a while. I wonder if they're doing okay.

:[Ponytail is walking to the right.]
:Ponytail: I'll go see what they're up to.

:[Ponytail is now seen having opened a door at the left side of a room, within which White Hat, Megan and another Cueball are looking at a chart on the wall, the other Cueball gesturing towards the chart. Most of the chart is illegible, but near the top it says "90 MPH", and below that there's a diagram of geologic strata, with the label "Bighorn Dolomite", upon which a sharply rectangular and isolated rock 'block' is depicted. The rock block has speed-lines indicating its rapid movement from left to right.]
:Cueball: 49 million years ago, Heart Mountain, Wyoming slid sideways 15 miles like a giant stone hovercraft.

:[Ponytail walks back to the Cueball from the first panel's scene.]
:Ponytail: ... They're not okay.
:Voice from off the right side of the panel: Hey, '''''you''''' come up with a better explanation!

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Geology]]

893: 65 Years

2026-03-02T06:54:29Z

Mtcv: artemis 3 to 4

{{comic
| number = 893
| date = May 2, 2011
| title = 65 Years
| image = 65 years.png
| titletext = The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision.
}}
==Explanation==
[[Randall]] is showing the number of still living humans who have walked on another world for the 65-year period that begins in 1969 (when a human first walked on the Moon). Up to 2011 (when the comic was drawn), he has drawn a single line for the actual figures.

For the subsequent years, he has drawn three lines using {{w|actuarial table}}s or life tables (such tables show, for each age, the probability that a certain person will die within the next year).

The line marked "5th Percentile" indicates that there is a 95% probability that the number alive in a given year will be above that line and a 5% probability that the number alive will be below that line. For example, this line indicates a 5% chance that all Apollo moon-walkers will be dead by 2023, and a 95% chance that at least one will still be alive by that year.

The line marked "95th Percentile" indicates that there is a 5% probability that the number alive in a given year will be above that line and a 95% probability that the number alive will be below that line. For example, this line indicates a 95% chance that all Apollo moon-walkers will be dead by 2035, and a 5% chance that at least one will still be alive by that year.

The middle line is not identified, but is probably the "50th Percentile" (see [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/07/12/a-morbid-python-script/ these tables]). If so, it indicates that there is a 50% probability that the number alive in a given year will be above that line and a 50% probability that the number alive will be below that line. For example, this line indicates a 50% chance that all Apollo moon-walkers will be dead by 2028 (see previous link), and a 50% chance that at least one will still be alive by that year.

Although the term ''other world'' would include all other worlds on which humans have walked, there is currently only one other world on which humans have walked, which is the Moon. The humans that have walked there are the 12 {{w|List of Apollo astronauts#Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon|Apollo astronauts}} who landed on the Moon between 1969 and 1972.

In particular, {{w|Neil Armstrong}} and {{w|Buzz Aldrin}} landed in July 1969. {{w|Pete Conrad}} and {{w|Alan Bean}} landed in November. {{w|Alan Shepard}} and {{w|Edgar Mitchell}}: February 1971. {{w|David Scott}} and {{w|James Irwin}}: July 1971. {{w|John Young (astronaut)|John Young}} and {{w|Charles Duke}}: April 1972. {{w|Eugene Cernan}} and {{w|Harrison Schmitt}}: December 1972.

Irwin died in 1991. Shepard and Conrad died in 1998 and 1999 respectively, making the total 9 as of the date this comic was published. Since then, Armstrong died in 2012, Mitchell in 2016, Cernan in 2017, Young on January 6, 2018, and Bean on May 26, 2018. The death of Bean kept the actual line almost in line with the 50% 'actuarial line', though it had generally been at least slightly higher prior to that. The situation by January 2025 saw the factual line stay at 4, taking it again beyond the 95% for at least the time being. The oldest living person to have landed on the Moon is Aldrin at 95. Also living are Scott at 93, Schmitt at 90, and Duke at 90.

The chart assumes that no other humans will go to walk on another world within the time-frame plotted and the title text implies that this is primarily an economically determined decision. While noting that not exploring space is a justifiable and sensible decision which may also be made by many hypothetical cultures on other worlds, the text implies a grandness to a civilization that would be given the opportunity to discover, study and memorialize the 'one-world graves' of other civilizations by choosing to explore space despite the economic difficulty. This also implies that the likely consequence of not exploring space is that a civilization which chooses to do this is doomed to go extinct eventually while those which do explore and colonize may last long enough to be safely established on multiple worlds and discover the remains of civilizations which acted on a purely economic basis and hence ensured their own collapse. High five for exoplanet archaeology.

The current earliest opportunity to increase the line again would be NASA's {{w|Artemis IV}}, planned for 2028 (delays possible).

==Transcript==
:[A graph titled 'Number of Living Humans Who Have Walked on Another World' - its y-axis is numbered 5, 10, 15, its x-axis increments every ten years from 1960-2040. The line of the graph has a bracket above it that says '65 Years', starting at 1969, ending in 2034.
:The line starts at 1969 and increases steeply to 12 by 1972. It then plateaus until the early nineties, declines gradually to 9 between 1991-1999, and then plateaus again.
:From 2011-2035, which is labeled 'Projected Actuarial Tables', the line branches into three and begins to decline more steeply to zero. The area between the first and second branch is shaded and labeled '5th percentile' and the area between the second and third branch is shaded and labeled '95th percentile.']

==Trivia==
*The theme of actuarial projections was explored earlier in [[493: Actuarial]]; Randall's morbid python script for both was given in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/07/12/a-morbid-python-script/ the blag].

[[File:65_years_actual.png|none|thumb|800px|Version extended to 2025]]

{| class="wikitable"
|+Table of men who walked the moon
|- style="background:#ccc;"
| style="width:20px;"|
| '''Name'''
| '''Born'''
| '''Died'''
| '''Age at first step'''
| '''Age at death'''
| '''Mission'''
| '''Lunar dates'''
| '''Service'''
| '''Alma Mater'''
|- style="background:#def;"
| 1. || {{w|Neil Armstrong}}|| 1930-08-05 || 2012-08-25 (after comic) || 38y 11m 15d || 82y 0m 20d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 11}} ||rowspan="2"| July 21, 1969 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Purdue University}}, {{w|University of Southern California}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 2. || {{w|Buzz Aldrin}}|| 1930-01-20 || || 39y 6m 0d || || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|United States Military Academy}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 3. || {{w|Pete Conrad}} || 1930-06-02 || 1999-07-08 || 39y 5m 17d || 69y 1m 6d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 12}} ||rowspan="2"| November 19–20, 1969 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Princeton University}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 4. || {{w|Alan Bean}}|| 1932-03-15 || 2018-05-26 (after comic) || 37y 8m 4d || 86y 2m 11d || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|University of Texas, Austin}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 5. || {{w|Alan Shepard}} || 1923-11-18 || 1998-07-21 || 47y 2m 18d || 74y 8m 3d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 14}} ||rowspan="2"| February 5–6, 1971 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|United States Naval Academy}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 6. || {{w|Edgar Mitchell}}|| 1930-09-07 || 2016-02-04 (after comic) || 40y 4m 19d || 85y 4m 28d || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Carnegie Mellon University}}, {{w|Naval Postgraduate School}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 7. || {{w|David Scott}} || 1932-06-06 || || 39y 1m 25d ||
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 15}} ||rowspan="2"| July 31 - August 2, 1971 || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|University of Michigan}} (freshman year, and later, an honorary doctorate), {{w|United States Military Academy}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 8. || {{w|James Irwin}} || 1930-03-17 || 1991-08-08 || 41y 4m 14d || 61y 4m 22d || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|United States Naval Academy}}, {{w|University of Michigan}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 9. || {{w|John Young (astronaut)|John W. Young}}|| 1930-09-24 || 2018-01-06 (after comic) || 41y 6m 28d || 87y 3m 13d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 16}} ||rowspan="2"| April 21–23, 1972 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Georgia Institute of Technology}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 10. || {{w|Charles Duke}} || 1935-10-03 || || 36y 6m 18d || || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|United States Naval Academy}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 11. || {{w|Eugene Cernan}} || 1934-03-14 || 2017-01-16 (after comic) || 38y 9m 7d || 82y 10m 2d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 17}} ||rowspan="2"| December 11–14, 1972 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Purdue University}}, {{w|Naval Postgraduate School}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 12. || {{w|Harrison Schmitt}} || 1935-07-03 || || 37y 5m 8d || || None (civillian) || {{w|Caltech}}, {{w|University of Oslo}} (exchange), {{w|Harvard University}}
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

3212: Little Red Dots

2026-02-26T07:44:54Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ links to jasper and vermillion

{{comic
| number = 3212
| date = February 25, 2026
| title = Little Red Dots
| image = little_red_dots_2x.png
| imagesize = 634x306px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = After a lot of analysis, I've determined that they're actually big red dots; they're just very far away.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a LITTLE RED BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

Cueball asks researchers in different subjects to identify "little red dots" in an image from the {{w|James Webb Space Telescope}} (referred to in the caption as "JWST").

The {{w|Little red dot (astronomical object)|little red dot}}s that the comic refers to are actually young black holes from 500-700 million years after the Big Bang in the JWST telescope, the comic instead jokingly asks several different experts their thoughts

According to the Entomologist they are: {{w|Clover mite | Clover mites}} (Bryobia praetiosa) are very small [[Red Spiders]].

According to the Computer Scientist they are: {{w|Defective pixel|Stuck pixels}}, pixels that do not work properly, and are stuck to one single color.

According to the Dermatologist they are: {{w|Cherry angioma|Cherry angiomas}}, harmless, non-cancerous skin growths made of clusters of dilated capillaries, appearing as bright red, smooth, or slightly raised spots.

According to the Graphic Designer they are: Colors of type [https://www.colorhexa.com/d73b3e Jasper] (● #d73b3e) and [https://www.colorhexa.com/e34234 Vermillion] (● #e34234, sometimes called Cinnabar). Part of the punchline is the shift in focus: instead of trying to identify the object, the designer is nitpicking the description of "red dot."

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Caption above all the panels:]
:Astronomers asking researchers from different departments to help them identify the "little red dots" in JWST images:

:[In each panel, Cueball stands at the left of an easel. The easel is shown each time as having a black image with three red dots on it. At the right of the easel in each panel is a different character looking at the image on the easel and commenting on it. At the top of each panel is a caption indicating the type of researcher commenting on the image.]

:Caption: Entomologists
:Megan: Clover mites.

:Caption: Computer scientists
:Knit Cap: Stuck pixels.

:Caption: Dermatologists
:Ponytail: Cherry angiomas.

:Caption: Graphic designers
:Hairy: No, those are vermillion, or maybe jasper.
:Hairy: Can I see your color settings?

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Telescopes]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:Graphic designers]]

3212: Little Red Dots

2026-02-26T07:40:07Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ added little red dots (Unicode 25CF: BLACK CIRCLE) in Jasper and Vermillion as examples

{{comic
| number = 3212
| date = February 25, 2026
| title = Little Red Dots
| image = little_red_dots_2x.png
| imagesize = 634x306px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = After a lot of analysis, I've determined that they're actually big red dots; they're just very far away.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a LITTLE RED BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

Cueball asks researchers in different subjects to identify "little red dots" in an image from the {{w|James Webb Space Telescope}} (referred to in the caption as "JWST").

The {{w|Little red dot (astronomical object)|little red dot}}s that the comic refers to are actually young black holes from 500-700 million years after the Big Bang in the JWST telescope, the comic instead jokingly asks several different experts their thoughts

According to the Entomologist they are: {{w|Clover mite | Clover mites}} (Bryobia praetiosa) are very small [[Red Spiders]].

According to the Computer Scientist they are: {{w|Defective pixel|Stuck pixels}}, pixels that do not work properly, and are stuck to one single color.

According to the Dermatologist they are: {{w|Cherry angioma|Cherry angiomas}}, harmless, non-cancerous skin growths made of clusters of dilated capillaries, appearing as bright red, smooth, or slightly raised spots.

According to the Graphic Designer they are: Colors of type Jasper (● #d73b3e) and Vermillion (● #e34234, sometimes called Cinnabar). Part of the punchline is the shift in focus: instead of trying to identify the object, the designer is nitpicking the description of "red dot."

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Caption above all the panels:]
:Astronomers asking researchers from different departments to help them identify the "little red dots" in JWST images:

:[In each panel, Cueball stands at the left of an easel. The easel is shown each time as having a black image with three red dots on it. At the right of the easel in each panel is a different character looking at the image on the easel and commenting on it. At the top of each panel is a caption indicating the type of researcher commenting on the image.]

:Caption: Entomologists
:Megan: Clover mites.

:Caption: Computer scientists
:Knit Cap: Stuck pixels.

:Caption: Dermatologists
:Ponytail: Cherry angiomas.

:Caption: Graphic designers
:Hairy: No, those are vermillion, or maybe jasper.
:Hairy: Can I see your color settings?

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Telescopes]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:Graphic designers]]

3211: Amperage

2026-02-24T08:47:46Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ ampere brief elaboration

{{comic
| number = 3211
| date = February 23, 2026
| title = Amperage
| image = amperage_2x.png
| imagesize = 299x410px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Oh, and do you have any tips on how to vacuum up copper that's melted into your carpet?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a BOT POWERED BY APPROXIMATELY 3217 AMPS (AND IS ON FIRE). Don't remove this notice too soon please.}}
Cueball explains to Ponytail how he has modified some parts of his house's wiring to avoid having power to his appliances interrupted on account of overcurrent conditions from running too many appliances at once. Households usually receive 200 amps (ampere, a unit of electric current; the amount of electric charge that flows through a wire in a given time) from the utility company. Individual circuits often support 15 amps or 20 amps. Cueball is somehow drawing 10,000 amps from his power company, and rewired his wall sockets to provide 500 amps. Both numbers are absurdly high, far more than any consumer appliance could need, and — as Cueball soon admits — enough power to cause fire hazards.

Cueball's reasoning for this is equally absurd: he is frustrated by his circuit breakers. Circuit breakers exist to prevent more current from flowing through wires than is expected (the expected values being around 20 amps as described above); a tripped breaker is caused by either a short circuit down the line or by the user trying to draw too much power at once. A tripped circuit breaker is an easy fix, but it means whatever you were trying to power on that circuit has been interrupted, which is apparently too much for Cueball. Preventing a circuit breaker from tripping, either by soldering wire into the fusebox where fuses are supposed to go or (in Cueball's case) by placing breakers rated at excessively high amperages, defeats this safety mechanism, meaning a fault such as a short circuit is much more likely to become a house fire. The end result is that Cueball has designed an extremely dangerous system with a high level of overkill in order to enable more of his own mistakes and prevent minor nuisances from slowing him down.

Additionally, while Cueball has stated he has changed the service he receives from the local utility company and the ratings of his breakers, he has ''not'' stated he has changed the wiring in his house to the outlets. Typical wires for outlets are between 14 and 10 gauge, rated between 15 and 30 amps. If he has appliances drawing anywhere near 500 amps, he will most likely melt the wires both inside his walls and inside his appliances and start a fire, even if there is no fault. Cueball is actually aware of this, but rather than put up with normal levels of power he's now trying to find more durable cords and wires that can handle the excessive load.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

493: Actuarial

2026-02-11T10:05:12Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ added expected year of death column

{{comic
| number = 493
| date = October 24, 2008
| title = Actuarial
| image = actuarial.png
| titletext = I started to do the tables for more famous people but it got really depressing and morbid and I had to go outside. Hat guy wins again.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is commenting about how he shouldn't feed the trolls, but sometimes gets provoked to the point where he can't help replying. The term ''{{w|Troll (Internet)|Trolling}}'' is used to describe provocative, destructive, or annoying behavior on the {{w|Internet}}.

[[Black Hat]] agrees and tells that he had an issue yesterday with a guy who had a serious case of the
[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/first first] urge. Some people have to be the first to make a comment on any given posting (be it a blog post or a YouTube video or some other commentable content) and to obnoxiously point out that they have made the first comment. This often manifests as the poster simply posting the word "First" without contributing any actual content to the discussion.

Once again, Black Hat is thus provoked into online retaliation bordering on the sociopathic, choosing a form of retribution that doesn't necessarily break any written rules but strikes directly at the heart and/or mind of his opponent. In this case, he tells the ''first'' guy when all his childhood heroes are likely to die - this could make anyone miserable. To do this, he is using {{w|Life table|actuarial table}}s or life tables, which show for each age the probability that a certain person will be alive by their next birthday.

Cueball reflects that he doesn't wish to become the target of such ire himself, but (without apparent malice on Black Hat's part...) still suffers from a piece of memetic shrapnel from the original attack — Cueball obviously loves the original ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' movies — and Black Hat would know this!

In the title text, it is said how {{tvtropes|TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou|Black Hat's offensive is so effective that he appears to have caused grief even to his own author and creator}}, [[Randall]], who only managed to check up on the ''Star Wars'' cast before getting too depressed.

So far, seven main cast members have died, three are still alive:
{| class="wikitable"
!Cast member!!Character!!born!!died!!age at death!!age at comic release!!expected year of death*!!hypothetical age on 2038-01-01
|-
| {{w|Peter Cushing}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Wilhuff_Tarkin Grand Moff Tarkin] || 1913-05-26 || 1994-08-11 || 81 || || || 124
|-
| {{w|Alec Guinness}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Obi-Wan_Kenobi Obi-Wan Kenobi] || 1914-04-02 || 2000-08-05 || 86 || || || 123
|-
| {{w|Kenny Baker (English actor)|Kenny Baker}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/R2-D2 R2-D2] || 1934-08-24 || 2016-08-13 || 81 || 74 || 2019 || 103
|-
| {{w|Carrie Fisher}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Leia_Organa General Leia] || 1956-10-21 || 2016-12-27 || 60 || 52 || 2038 || 81
|-
| {{w|Peter Mayhew}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Chewbacca Chewbacca] || 1944-05-19 || 2019-04-30 || 74 || 64 || 2025 || 93
|-
| {{w|David Prowse}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Anakin_Skywalker Darth Vader] || 1935-07-01 || 2020-11-28 || 85 || 73 || 2019 || 102
|-
| {{w|James Earl Jones}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Anakin_Skywalker Darth Vader] || 1931-01-17 || 2024-09-09 || 93 || 77 || 2017 || 106
|-
| {{w|Mark Hamill}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Luke_Skywalker Luke Skywalker] || 1951-09-25 || || || 57 || 2031 || 86
|-
| {{w|Harrison Ford}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Han_Solo Han Solo] || 1942-07-13 || || || 66 || 2024 || 95
|-
| {{w|Anthony Daniels}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/C-3PO C-3PO] || 1946-02-21 || || || 62 || 2028 || 91
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> At comic release (2008-10-24). Look up the life expectancy in the [https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6_2004_TR2008.html actuarial table for 2004/2008] for the specified age and gender and add this to the comic release date.

Although implied, the comic does not specify ''main'' cast; the youngest minor cast member might be [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002921/ Tiffany Hillkurtz], who played a Jawa (uncredited) and was 7 (born 1969-06-24) when the movie was released.

Randall has used this idea again in [[893: 65 Years]] and published a [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/07/12/a-morbid-python-script/ 'morbid' program] (the original code has been removed, but an implementation can be found on Github) that uses actuarial tables to calculate the probability that someone will die within a given time. The offense that provoked Black Hat was mentioned already in [[269: TCMP]] and then returned to in both [[1019: First Post]] and [[1258: First]].

A similar setting with Cueball and Black Hat also discussing movies appears later in [[1751: Movie Folder]]. But then Black Hat is reading on his smartphone.

It is possible that [[494: Secretary: Part 1]] and the following series are a continuation of this comic, as Black Hat's great power over even Internet trolls via his sociopathic ways would explain why he was chosen as Internet secretary.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, seated at a computer terminal, facing to the left.]
:Cueball: I know you shouldn't feed the trolls, but sometimes they just provoke me to where I can't help replying.

:[Black Hat, seated in an armchair reading a book, facing to the right]
:Black Hat: Yeah, me too. Yesterday this guy kept spamming "First!", so I got a set of actuarial tables and spent twenty minutes telling him when all his childhood heroes would likely die.

:[Cueball turns around in his chair.]
:Cueball: ...

:[Black Hat, still reading his book.]
:Cueball (off-screen): Remind me never to upset you, ever.
:Black Hat: 2038: Last of the original Star Wars cast dies.
:Cueball (off-screen): Augh!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Comics with a Spanish translation]]

493: Actuarial

2026-02-11T08:16:47Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ list of cast members to table, added alive main cast, added youngest cast member

{{comic
| number = 493
| date = October 24, 2008
| title = Actuarial
| image = actuarial.png
| titletext = I started to do the tables for more famous people but it got really depressing and morbid and I had to go outside. Hat guy wins again.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is commenting about how he shouldn't feed the trolls, but sometimes gets provoked to the point where he can't help replying. The term ''{{w|Troll (Internet)|Trolling}}'' is used to describe provocative, destructive, or annoying behavior on the {{w|Internet}}.

[[Black Hat]] agrees and tells that he had an issue yesterday with a guy who had a serious case of the
[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/first first] urge. Some people have to be the first to make a comment on any given posting (be it a blog post or a YouTube video or some other commentable content) and to obnoxiously point out that they have made the first comment. This often manifests as the poster simply posting the word "First" without contributing any actual content to the discussion.

Once again, Black Hat is thus provoked into online retaliation bordering on the sociopathic, choosing a form of retribution that doesn't necessarily break any written rules but strikes directly at the heart and/or mind of his opponent. In this case, he tells the ''first'' guy when all his childhood heroes are likely to die - this could make anyone miserable. To do this, he is using {{w|Life table|actuarial table}}s or life tables, which show for each age the probability that a certain person will be alive by their next birthday.

Cueball reflects that he doesn't wish to become the target of such ire himself, but (without apparent malice on Black Hat's part...) still suffers from a piece of memetic shrapnel from the original attack — Cueball obviously loves the original ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' movies — and Black Hat would know this!

In the title text, it is said how {{tvtropes|TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou|Black Hat's offensive is so effective that he appears to have caused grief even to his own author and creator}}, [[Randall]], who only managed to check up on the ''Star Wars'' cast before getting too depressed.

So far, seven main cast members have died, three are still alive:
{| class="wikitable"
!Cast member!!Character!!born!!died!!age at death!!hypothetical age on 2038-01-01
|-
| {{w|Peter Cushing}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Wilhuff_Tarkin Grand Moff Tarkin] || 1913-05-26 || 1994-08-11 || 81 || 124
|-
| {{w|Alec Guinness}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Obi-Wan_Kenobi Obi-Wan Kenobi] || 1914-04-02 || 2000-08-05 || 86 || 123
|-
| {{w|Kenny Baker (English actor)|Kenny Baker}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/R2-D2 R2-D2] || 1934-08-24 || 2016-08-13 || 81 || 103
|-
| {{w|Carrie Fisher}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Leia_Organa General Leia] || 1956-10-21 || 2016-12-27 || 60 || 81
|-
| {{w|Peter Mayhew}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Chewbacca Chewbacca] || 1944-05-19 || 2019-04-30 || 74 || 93
|-
| {{w|David Prowse}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Anakin_Skywalker Darth Vader] || 1935-07-01 || 2020-11-28 || 85 || 102
|-
| {{w|James Earl Jones}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Anakin_Skywalker Darth Vader] || 1931-01-17 || 2024-09-09 || 93 || 106
|-
| {{w|Mark Hamill}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Luke_Skywalker Luke Skywalker] || 1951-09-25 || || || 86
|-
| {{w|Harrison Ford}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Han_Solo Han Solo] || 1942-07-13 || || || 95
|-
| {{w|Anthony Daniels}} || [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/C-3PO C-3PO] || 1946-02-21 || || || 91
|}

Although implied, the comic does not specify ''main'' cast; the youngest minor cast member might be [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002921/ Tiffany Hillkurtz], who played a Jawa (uncredited) and was 7 (born 1969-06-24) when the movie was released.

Randall has used this idea again in [[893: 65 Years]] and published a [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/07/12/a-morbid-python-script/ 'morbid' program] (the original code has been removed, but an implementation can be found on Github) that uses actuarial tables to calculate the probability that someone will die within a given time. The offense that provoked Black Hat was mentioned already in [[269: TCMP]] and then returned to in both [[1019: First Post]] and [[1258: First]].

A similar setting with Cueball and Black Hat also discussing movies appears later in [[1751: Movie Folder]]. But then Black Hat is reading on his smartphone.

It is possible that [[494: Secretary: Part 1]] and the following series are a continuation of this comic, as Black Hat's great power over even Internet trolls via his sociopathic ways would explain why he was chosen as Internet secretary.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, seated at a computer terminal, facing to the left.]
:Cueball: I know you shouldn't feed the trolls, but sometimes they just provoke me to where I can't help replying.

:[Black Hat, seated in an armchair reading a book, facing to the right]
:Black Hat: Yeah, me too. Yesterday this guy kept spamming "First!", so I got a set of actuarial tables and spent twenty minutes telling him when all his childhood heroes would likely die.

:[Cueball turns around in his chair.]
:Cueball: ...

:[Black Hat, still reading his book.]
:Cueball (off-screen): Remind me never to upset you, ever.
:Black Hat: 2038: Last of the original Star Wars cast dies.
:Cueball (off-screen): Augh!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Comics with a Spanish translation]]

3173: Satellite Imagery

2025-11-27T08:48:20Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ clouds are a give-away

{{comic
| number = 3173
| date = November 26, 2025
| title = Satellite Imagery
| image = satellite_imagery_2x.png
| imagesize = 429x526px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Every weekend I take an ATV out into the desert and spend a day tracing a faint "(C) GOOGLE 2009" watermark across the landscape.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page's explanation has been obscured, and we're currently trying to figure out what it says. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic is another entry in the "[[:Category:My_Hobby|My Hobby]]" series of comic

[[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] are intelligence analysts, scrutinizing a projected image of an apparent satellite (or aerial) photograph. It features a parched landscape, of indeterminate scale, though has some clear watercourses flowing through it that suggest fairly wide rivers and tributaries.

In the middle of the image, spanning the river banks around a small bend, the image ''appears'' to have been pixelated, certainly to the two characters viewing it.

They express concern that they're relying upon censored resources. Their commentary indicates that they are perhaps working for an intelligence agency working with classified imagery, who would expect to be using raw imagery, not something obscured. They're first considering whether they'd been provided the 'public'-level classification prepared by the satellite operator. Alternatively, they have stumbled upon a location that higher levels of their own agency (or partner domestic organisations) deem of higher security than they are entitled access to. The most frightening thought, though, is that a foreign counter-intelligence agency is protecting their own national secrets by hacking into their systems and rendering them functionally useless.

To add to the confusion, the chosen location does not appear to have ''any'' information recorded for it, such as whether it should contain a military base (their own military's, of allied forces or that of a potential/actual adversary). The lack of any other information, in the light of clearly hidden details, leads to a justifiable level of paranoia and concern over what might be being obscured.

As the caption reveals, the ''only'' thing in that physical location are some very large squares, given various flat hues closely matching the original average ground appearance, entirely intended to be misinterpreted as post-process image pixelization. Since this is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] hobbies he most have done this a number of times, on the off-chance that someone will make the observed assumptions.

Randall's deception could be exposed by sufficiently detailed clouds floating above the colored panels. If the image was really pixelated, the clouds would appear pixelated too.

In the title text, he continues to further confuse the remote-sensing people by drawing a {{w|watermark}} in the sand, leading people to believe the picture was taken in 2009 and is part of Google's publicly released material. Which, though it is indeed a possible source for the general public, could be unexpected in more serious and separately sourced ground imagery directly taken for more commercial, governmental or intelligence-agency purposes. Also if this is supposed to be either live images or those just taken today, and then if they have an old watermark from 2009 it seems like someone is feeding them old images, rather than the new one. This would be very concerning (and also make them wondering how those that could hack their system, would be so stupid to use watermarked images.)

==Transcript==
:Cueball and Ponytail are standing on either side of a board on a wall, which is displaying a satellite image of an area without cities. A large river is going through the left part of the image, going from north to south. Another river joins it from the left in the lower part of the image. A lake is in the right upper part of the image. There are a few white lines running through the image, probably roads. However, in the left part of the image over the middle of the north/south going river there is a square area which looks pixelated into 36 equal sized smaller squares. The color of the image is brownish with white and black and gray scales as well. The 36 smaller squares are held in these colors, though not white or black, but each small square is held in a uniform color, where the rest of the landscape has a smooth transition in colors from one place to the next.]
:Cueball: Wait, when was this imagery taken? Is this censorship the work of the contractor? One of our people? '''''Foreign actors!?'''''
:Ponytail: Do we know who's operating a facility at that location?
:Cueball: We can't find '''''anything'''''.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My hobby: Setting up big colored panels in the middle of nowhere as a prank on remote sensing people.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]
</noinclude>

3167: Car Size

2025-11-13T09:35:39Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ inertia maked heavier vehicles safer too

{{comic
| number = 3167
| date = November 12, 2025
| title = Car Size
| image = car_size_2x.png
| imagesize = 348x754px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A CAR WITH AN ICBM. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic demonstrates one reason why vehicles have gotten progressively larger and more powerful, due to a type of {{w|arms race}} between drivers. When vehicles of different sizes share the road, passengers in the smaller ones will usually be more at risk in collisions, since the body construction and lower inertia generally provide less protection. So, for safety reasons, people have an incentive to buy larger cars. This, according to the comic causes a cycle of increasingly larger cars, although this reaches a point of absurdity due to the cost and speed of giant cars.

In the "Soon" panel, Randall has extrapolated this to adding spiked armor and weaponry to large cars, and other drivers will need to do the same to compete on the road. This scenario is reminiscent of the vehicles from the {{w|Mad Max}} franchise, and of the [https://wackyraces.fandom.com/wiki/The_Slag_Brothers Slag Brothers] from Wacky Races. This would almost certainly never happen in real life,{{cn}} as there would be no reason at all to introduce weaponry to cars in the first place ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nJtXiK7bPk/ unless you're driving a Renault Twingo]). Rather, it is meant to make the reader realize that buying larger vehicles purely for the perceived safety is a never-ending vicious cycle.

The title text views this from the opposite perspective. The owner of a large car is worried that they'll kill people in small cars, so small car drivers shouldn't drive on the road at all and should be restricted to the sidewalk for their own safety. Driving the smallest cars in pedestrian spaces is obviously absurd, but follows the prior trend of separating bikes from car traffic 'for cyclists' safety' and often having them share pedestrian spaces due to practical constraints like cost. In the car-centric view, it is not worth creating separate infrastructure for bicycles and similar small vehicles, so the title text's extension of the trend is to classify small cars as bike-like vehicles, even though this endangers both smaller vehicles and pedestrians. Biking on sidewalks is illegal in some jurisdictions, with a greater number banning small powered vehicles like e-bikes. Where either kind of bike is allowed, laws generally require that the rider take precautions like riding at reasonable speeds when near pedestrians, alerting pedestrians when passing, and yielding to pedestrians when needed. Small, low-speed carts do routinely share some larger pedestrian spaces, such as golf courses and large airports, but even these would have trouble safely passing on regular sidewalks. Smaller single-occupant electric vehicles (mobility scooters) frequently share pedestrian spaces, but their limited speeds reduce the frequency and potential severity of impacts.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[The comic is made up of four panels, each featuring Cueball talking to Megan or vice versa, both of them surrounded by progressively larger vehicles.]
:[Panel one is labeled "100 years ago." Cueball and Megan are standing with a bicycle to the left of them and an old-fashioned car to their right.]
:Cueball: It's too dangerous riding a bike with these cars around. I should get a car, too.

:[Panel two is labeled "50 years ago." Cueball and Megan are standing between a small hatchback (right) and a slightly larger sedan (left).]
:Megan: Small cars are less safe in collisions with larger vehicles, so I should get a bigger one.

:[Panel three is labeled "Today." Cueball and Megan are standing between a large SUV (left) and an even larger SUV (right).]
:Cueball: Everyone has huge SUVs now. If I don't get the biggest one, I'm putting my family at risk.

:[Panel four is labeled "Soon." Cueball and Megan are standing to the left of a massive SUV with metal plates bolted to its side, spiked panels attached to the front and back, and two giant spiked clubs hanging from a rotor on top of the car. Another massive spiked club is visible coming from the left of the panel, presumably attached to a similar car. Megan has both arms on her side.]
:Megan: If I don't install more whirling spike clubs, I'll be destroyed by all the other drivers who...

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3165: Earthquake Prediction Flowchart

2025-11-10T07:54:45Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ added link: map of earthquakes in the past day

{{comic
| number = 3165
| date = November 7, 2025
| title = Earthquake Prediction Flowchart
| image = earthquake_prediction_flowchart_2x.png
| imagesize = 318x494px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = At least people who make religious predictions of the apocalypse have an answer to the question 'Why didn't you predict any of the other ones that happened recently?'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created EXACTLY 3.1415926 YEARS BEFORE AN EARTHQUAKE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

The comic purports to depict a flowchart demonstrating whether you should believe someone claiming to be able to predict {{w|earthquakes}}. However, this "flowchart" immediately leads to a hard '''NO''', with a brief description on why. [https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/fact-sheet/how_often_do_earthquakes_occur Earthquakes happen] [https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?extent=-77.5421,-217.26563&extent=84.9901,345.23438 all the time], so if someone claims they can predict them, we'd have their methodology proven or disproven almost immediately. And, if it's reliable, seismologists would be parading it around as a revolutionary discovery. Thus, there should be no remaining need to consult a flowchart on the matter. Another interperatiation is that seismologists will get mad over claiming useless facts.

In this context it is noteworthy that six Italian seismologists, volcanologists and engineers were {{w|2009 L'Aquila earthquake#Prosecutions|charged for manslaughter}} in the aftermath of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, on the basis of having been "falsely reassuring". Six days before the earthquake killed 308 people, they convened in a committee meeting, and decided that there was no reason to warn the population over the highly tentative possibility that minor geological activity was a sign that something more major ''might'' be imminent. Seven years after the quake, they were finally cleared of any wrongdoing. At other times, 'warnings' have been issued that did ''not'' clearly precede any actual disasters, and there are clearly many arguments about whether or not to risk "{{w|The Boy Who Cried Wolf|crying wolf}}" on flimsy evidence, especially when there is always the confusing possibility of coincidentally warning about {{w|2009 L'Aquila earthquake#Prior warning|a different 'wolf'}} from the real one that was not spotted in time.

This strip is similar to [[1723: Meteorite Identification]], as a one-step flowchart ending in a firm ''no''.

The title text compares those who claim to predict earthquakes to those who claim to predict the end of the world, for example based on their religion. A prominent argument against those who claim to be able to predict non-apocalyptic disasters, like earthquakes, is that the "predictor" has not predicted any such disasters ''prior'' to their claim. An apocalypse, however, is not something that has occurred before, and generally only happens once.{{Citation needed}} Thus, unlike an earthquake predictor, anyone predicting an apocalypse will not need to explain any failures ({{w|False positives and false negatives|false negatives}}) in predicting other apocalypses. People who have ''previously'' predicted an apocalypse and failed to have it come about (i.e. a false positive), should be exceptions, but {{w|Harold Camping|such people}} never seem to lose credibility with their more devout followers.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above a flowchart:]
:Someone is claiming to predict the exact date of a future earthquake.
:Should you listen?

:[At the top of the flowchart is a wide diamond with the following text:]
:Start
:[An arrow points down to a rectangle with the following text:]
:<big>'''NO'''</big>
:(There are big earthquakes constantly, so if anyone ever '''''does''''' figure this out, it will be immediately obvious that their method works and the world's seismologists will not shut up about it.
:You won't need this flowchart.)

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Earthquakes]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]

Talk:3146: Fantastic Four

2025-09-25T09:33:15Z

Mtcv:

And everyone wonders why that Franklin Richards kid is a little off... [[Special:Contributions/2601:8C3:8682:1FC0:9DB2:6777:1660:1D9C|2601:8C3:8682:1FC0:9DB2:6777:1660:1D9C]] 20:32, 24 September 2025 (UTC)

Could be worse. In Star Trek, the kid would be born 2 centuries in the past. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:06, 24 September 2025 (UTC)

Spoilers, Randall, spoilers...I'm sure there are other people who missed the theatrical release and are waiting for it to hit Disney+... [[Special:Contributions/128.4.149.3|128.4.149.3]] 21:22, 24 September 2025 (UTC)
:It's probably fine, the movie came out... two months ago.
:Holy shit it only came out two months ago. [[User:Redacted II|Redacted II]] ([[User talk:Redacted II|talk]]) 22:04, 24 September 2025 (UTC)
:This is how I learnt there was a new Fantastic Four movie [[Special:Contributions/64.114.211.124|64.114.211.124]] 23:25, 24 September 2025 (UTC)
:I had already heard of the movie, but only after it had been released. Whatever advertising they'd used had bypassed me... I only saw the 'poster' for it when someone who had already watched it included the image in a review. And, by my own (probably wrong) count, this is the fifth live-action FF film, anyway (one of them was made but never released, for... reasons) and I've only actually seen two of the prior ones. (Couldn't say for sure which plot-points belong to which. Was the one where Johnny Storm had a 'pre-powers-kicking-in' skiing accident different from the one with the dimensional travel thing? ...I think so, but then which order were they?).
:It seems that cinema releases are these days probably considered loss-leaders (and 'Oscars-qualifying') to justify subsequent online-platforming sales. I was lucky enough to have a fairly local cinema play The Thursday Murder Club, given that I don't have access to Netflix (or Disney+, or Paramount+, or all the rest that might be necessary to view all the various different franchises of possible interest) and am stubbornly unlikely to succumb anytime soon.
:As to spoilers, I'll have probably forgotten/disregarded this comic by the time I get to see this one. By which time there'll be an even newer re-re-reboot FF film, ''anyway'' (probably photorealistically generated with AI 'actors', and piped straight into subscribers' brains!), if not ''several'' more. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.45|82.132.244.45]] 02:06, 25 September 2025 (UTC)

Brings to mind the 1999 IgNobel Prize winner (in Managed Health Care), US Patent #3216423 ("Apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child by centrifugal force"), <https://patents.google.com/patent/US3216423A/en> {{unsigned ip|2601:189:8501:71a0:2ce2:fc8d:e6ee:d0f|00:21, 25 September 2025}}
:That's one crazy patent. Is that a net to catch the baby? Also this: "In the case of a woman who has a fully developed muscular system and has had ample physical exertion all through the pregnancy, as is common with all more '''primitive peoples''', nature provides all the necessary equipment and power to have a normal and quick delivery. This is not the case, however, with more '''civilized Women''' who often do not have the opportunity to develop the muscles needed in confinement." [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 09:33, 25 September 2025 (UTC)

After I read the problem statement, I feared that they would somehow propel the baby out of her extremely fast to get momentum… o.O [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 07:32, 25 September 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3145: Piercing

2025-09-23T08:41:00Z

Mtcv:

Woah, new comic just barely as I refreshed? I must be so cool! [[User:Willintendo|Willintendo]] ([[User talk:Willintendo|talk]]) 20:43, 22 September 2025 (UTC)

Being "old enough" doesn't mean much, I'm afraid. I saw a very young child in a puschair (not sure what age... probably pre-verbal, though she responded to my friendly waggly-wave of fingers with a close enough gesture in return) with a flashy ear-piercing stud the other day, which was probably her mother's choice to impose upon her. (Not quite FGM/circumcision level of parental imposition, but certainly not consensual.) [[Special:Contributions/92.17.62.87|92.17.62.87]] 20:44, 22 September 2025 (UTC)
:There are some cultures that traditionally pierce the ears within a few days of birth, on the theory that it's more painful when they're older. The American Association of Pediatrics doesn't have a problem with this as long as it's done safely. In the US, I think it's more common to wait until they're at least 12 years old and make the decision themselves. That's probably what Randall is thinking of. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:57, 22 September 2025 (UTC)
: Part of that is because earlobes can grow unevenly, placing an early piercing in a weird spot. By the teenage years, this is less likely to happen. [[Special:Contributions/50.52.119.169|50.52.119.169]] 22:03, 22 September 2025 (UTC)

Is there a new long distance boring project that has happened or is being planned that this comic is in reference to? I was hoping there would be some mention on this page? I can't find any likely candidates in a quick Google search. Any ideas? [[Special:Contributions/38.175.130.234|38.175.130.234]] 22:34, 22 September 2025 (UTC)

The piercing is going rather deep into hot stuff, according to the image (do we have estimates?). Being "old enough" might be implying that enough time has passed for the hot stuff to cool down so that it can finally be safely pierced (do we have estimates?). --[[Special:Contributions/88.113.67.59|88.113.67.59]] 05:33, 23 September 2025 (UTC)
: By my guesstimate, the entry and exit points are about 700 km (435 mi for imperialists) apart and the ring diameter is twice of that. The section of the ring that is subterran could be 10% of the ring's diameter, so it's 140 km or 87 mi and the ring extends into space by about 1260km, smashing nicely all satellites that don't have a near-equatorial orbit. Maybe we could integrate a space elevator into it? Although I doubt that Gospodin P. will allow that project, because it would totally smash their Kola Superdeep record. But I think the Russians are safe for now, either our tech or Earth will have to mature a bit more until we can successfully drill into the mantle [[Special:Contributions/195.49.224.20|195.49.224.20]] 08:07, 23 September 2025 (UTC)
::Here's a diagram to estimate it. Randall's earth surface isn't very circular unfortunately, so I flipped the image to make it symmetric and took the largest extent. I get a depth of 10% of the earth's radius, so 637km/396mi, and distance between entry and exit spans about 26 degrees of the earth's circumference, so about 2900km/1800mi. [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 08:41, 23 September 2025 (UTC)
[[File:xkcd3145_measured.png|300px]]

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all have rings - why shouldn't we? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:16, 23 September 2025 (UTC)

File:xkcd3145 measured.png

2025-09-23T08:33:31Z

Mtcv: Circle superimposed on the comic 3145 to show the size of the earth relative to the piercing.

== Summary ==
Circle superimposed on the comic 3145 to show the size of the earth relative to the piercing.
== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file derived}}

3136: Pull

2025-09-02T07:05:40Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ 3rd panel

{{comic
| number = 3136
| date = September 1, 2025
| title = Pull
| image = pull_2x.png
| imagesize = 650x220px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Be careful fighting gravity. If you win, it's a long way down.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by g. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Megan and Cueball are lying in the grass on an orb, presumably Earth. However, instead of the conventional frame orientation where gravity points towards the bottom of the image, the viewpoint is stationary outside the Earth while we see it slowly rotating. Shown this way, we feel an intuition that the protagonists should fall off and it makes it clear how weird it is that gravity keeps us stuck to an orb.

In the first panel, Cueball expresses that he doesn't like being stuck there, possibly because he wants to explore other worlds or because he finds Earth limiting. The alternative would be "falling off", as in succumbing to the [[123|centrifugal force]] that results from the Earth's rotation – this would appear in the comic's perspective as both characters slowly "falling" away towards the right side of the panel. As this centrifugal effect is quite slight compared to the gravitational acceleration we're used to (0.34% of it at the equator, to be exact), Megan and Cueball would have roughly three more minutes until they "fell" off-panel, assuming their position is of a mid-northern latitude typical to the US – unless they're able to fly under their own power now that they're no longer constrained by gravity, or unless the rest of Planet Earth also has its gravity turned off and violently explodes as a result.

In the second panel, Megan uses a more metaphorical sense of the word pull, she is attracted to lying on the grass doing nothing and blames her inability to get up and do things on gravity.

Cueball replies that the pull might weaken over time. In a literal sense, gravity will not decrease significantly even in the long term. Earth gains mass from dust and meteorites but loses mass due to escaping gasses and rockets. Locally, gravity can change due to mass redistribution. The Earth's core will cool, leading to decreasing radius and thus increasing gravity at the surface. Towards the end of its life, the Earth's water will be boiled off due to the expanding Sun, leading to a decrease in gravity. Metaphorically, Cueball may be suggesting that Megan will eventually grow bored of lying in the grass, thus losing its attraction, but he may also just be saying that so she will stay a bit longer. Megan agrees.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:Cueball: I don't like being stuck to this orb,
:Cueball: but I guess falling off would be worse.

:Megan: I wouldn't mind if it pulled a little less hard, though.
:Megan: I have places to be.
:Megan: I shouldn't just lie around in the grass.

:Cueball: Maybe the pull will weaken if you wait around a little longer.
:Megan: Good idea. I'll give it another five minutes.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

3136: Pull

2025-09-02T06:33:01Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */

3136: Pull

2025-09-02T06:19:03Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */

3136: Pull

2025-09-02T06:15:55Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */

3136: Pull

2025-09-02T06:01:06Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ start

3108: Laser Danger

2025-06-30T11:46:19Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ cat size

{{comic
| number = 3108
| date = June 27, 2025
| title = Laser Danger
| image = laser_danger_2x.png
| imagesize = 684x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = To combat the threat, many airlines are installing wing-mounted spray bottles.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created TO DISTRACT A GIANT KITTEN. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Shining a laser at a plane is a federal crime in the United States, and similarly proscribed in many other locations. A sufficiently powerful laser can disorient, distract and/or blind the pilot operating the aircraft. This can prove particularly dangerous to the safety of the aircraft and its occupants during take-off and landing, when planes are likely to have altitudes and orientations particularly susceptible to laser interference, and are phases that are already hazardous periods of flight. This 'use' of lasers was previously discussed in [[3030: Lasering Incidents]] and [[2481: 1991 and 2021]].

Megan claims that there's another reason why lasering a plane is illegal: to avoid provoking cats into leaping at them. Cats are known to [[729: Laser Pointer|chase and jump onto]] the dots created by laser pointers. Cats also prey on birds, with estimates of 1.3 to 3.7 billion birds killed each year. Of course, a cat would be unable to jump to the height of a flying plane{{Citation needed}}. If the cat were able to reach the plane, it would find itself hilariously outsized, though colliding with the plane mid-air could cause damage akin to a bird strike (e.g. shattered windshield or engine failure). The cat in the image is similar in size to the plane and thus could do significant damage. It is unclear whether the cat is unusually large or the plane is a model aircraft.

The laser is shown in green, which may be a reference to the higher-energy lasers from [https://what-if.xkcd.com/13/ What If 13].

The title text alludes to the fact that many cats do not like getting wet, and one of the methods people use to discourage them from a place or activity that is unwanted is to use spray bottles to wet their fur. The spray bottle might also emit a hissing sound, which cats associate with other cats threatening them. The "wing mounted spray bottles" on aircraft could be a reference to fuel dump tubes, which spray out fuel to lighten the aircraft, commonly used before emergency landings (especially soon after take-off, when a nearly full load of fuel is now more trouble than it should have been). To combat against actual physical threats to aircraft in real life, El Al (The Israeli national airline) and government aircraft {{w|Air Force One|used by heads of state}} often have various {{w|Flare (countermeasure)|countermeasures}} installed.

==Transcript==
: Megan: Shining laser pointers at planes is a federal crime. It's incredibly dangerous.
: Cueball: Oh, because it can blind the pilot?
: Megan: That's one reason...

: [A plane is shown, with a green laser pointer aimed at it.]

: [The laser disappears. A cat, approximately the same size as the plane, pounces on the plane and sends it tumbling.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Aviation]]
[[Category:Cats]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

3063: Planet Definitions

2025-03-17T08:18:47Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3063
| date = March 14, 2025
| title = Planet Definitions
| image = planet_definitions_2x.png
| imagesize = 653x1435px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Under the 'has cleared its orbital neighborhood' and 'fuses hydrogen into helium' definitions, thanks to human activities Earth technically no longer qualifies as a planet but DOES count as a star.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|A table might be better to format the explanation.}}

This comic addresses the {{w|IAU definition of planet|controversy of whether of Pluto is a planet}} and explores many definitions, most of them humorous and nonsensical, of what a planet could be.

;Traditionalist: {{w|Pluto}} is a planet (9 planets)
:In modern times, there was {{w|IAU definition of planet#Background|no formal definition of a "planet"}} prior to 2006. However, it was generally accepted as a colloquialism that there were nine planets around the {{w|Sun}}, Pluto included, primarily starting with Pluto's discovery in 1930, based upon that time's scientific consensus that there ought to be another planet to account for peculiarities in the the orbits of the other outer planets. As more sophisticated methods of mapping the {{w|Solar System}} were developed and {{w|Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris}} was discovered to be even more massive than Pluto (which may not have been as significant as the theories that led to its discovery suggested) it became clear to astronomers that a more standardized definition was needed. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) published their formal redefinition of a "planet" to require a planet to be gravitationally dominant within its orbit, disqualifying Pluto (and Eris) which is now considered a "dwarf planet". This has been subject to push back from countless people, including [https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.15285 some planetary scientists], but in mostly nostalgic laypeople dissatisfied with Pluto being "demoted" or otherwise relegated when schoolchildren and adults alike have 'known' that there are nine planets for the most part of the last century (and [[988: Tradition|tradition]] has previously been referred to as whatever was current during "Baby Boomers' childhoods").
:Ironically, some of the latest study of the outer solar-system includes the possibility of yet ''another'' {{w|Planet Nine}}, but only time will tell if such an object exists and whether it would cross the IAU's current threshold or even require the threshold itself to be reassessed once more.

;Modern: Pluto is not a planet (8 planets)
:When the IAU redefined what a planet is in 2006, Pluto no longer qualified as a planet (since it wasn't able to clear its neighborhood around its orbit). Using the modern, and recently official, definition of a planet, only eight celestial objects qualified: {{w|Mercury (planet)|Mercury}}, {{w|Venus (planet)|Venus}}, {{w|Earth (planet)|Earth}}, {{w|Mars (planet)|Mars}}, {{w|Jupiter (planet)|Jupiter}}, {{w|Saturn (planet)|Saturn}}, {{w|Uranus (planet)|Uranus}} and {{w|Neptune (planet)|Neptune}}.

;Expansive: Dwarf planets are planets (17+ planets)
:It is likely that since the term "dwarf planet" contained "planet" in its name, Randall considered those as also planets under this category.
:It is also likely that the number of planets includes the ones that are considered planets and the ones that are considered to have compacted into fully solid bodies, {{w|Dwarf planet#Most likely dwarf planets| as defined by Grundy ''et al.'',}} those being {{w|Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres}}, Pluto, Eris, {{w|Makemake}}, {{w|Haumea}}, {{w|Gonggong (dwarf planet)|Gonggong}}, {{w|Quaoar}}, {{w|Orcus (dwarf planet)|Orcus}} and {{w|Sedna (dwarf planet)|Sedna}}.
:The basis for this viewpoint is the possible alternative re-evaluation that the IAU could have adopted, in that all newly discovered things ''like'' Pluto (being considered a planet) should therefore be considered a planet. Indeed, Ceres had been observed some time before Pluto and had been called a planet (or a "minor planet") within both scientific and public realms.

;Ultratraditionalist: Only the classical planets are planets (5 planets)
:The {{w|classical planets}} are objects found and considered by the Greek astronomers in classical antiquity to be considered planets. Their definition of "planet" considered visible objects that move across the sky relative to the fixed stars, the original word itself being translated as "wanderer". There are seven classical planets, but if one were to only consider the ones that fall under the IAU's definition of a planet (this being ''less'' traditional), then there would only be five. (The Sun and the {{w|Moon}} would be disqualified.)
:Being (mostly) true to the spirit of the historic naming convention, this would be a conservative but 'valid' version of the criterion. Notably, Earth itself is not considered a planet by these criteria, as (from the prospective of anyone who might even consider such things), it was not even wandering the heavens, or in the night skies at all, but always underfoot.

;Condescending: Only giant planets are planets; the rest are big {{w|asteroid}}s (4 planets)
:This definition may refer to the {{w|giant planets}}, planets much larger than the {{w|Earth}}. Only the four outer (IAU-defined) planets fall under this definition.
:Relegation of anything smaller, including our own planet, is an extreme attitude, but most of the initial [[:Category:Exoplanets|exoplanets]] discovered were, by practical necessity in their detection, also only of the "giant planet" kind.

;Simplistic: Anything gravitationally round is a planet (37+ planets)
:Using the Wikipedia {{w|list of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System}}, there are 37 objects listed. That includes the Sun, 8 planets, 9 dwarf planets and 19 {{w|Natural satellite|moon}}s, but falls short of also highlighting all of the smallest visible objects (as per Universalist, below).
:This definition is essentially ''part'' of the actual current definition of a planet, leaving out the main factor that specifically disqualifies Pluto.

;Grounded: Only objects a spaceship has landed on are planets (10 planets)
:This list includes objects in the Solar System that a spacecraft has {{w|List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies|performed a soft landing on}}. The list includes {{w|Venus}}, Earth, {{w|Mars}}, the Moon, {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}, {{w|433 Eros|Eros}}, {{w|25143 Itokawa|Itokawa}}, {{w|162173 Ryugu|Ryugu}}, {{w|101955 Bennu|Bennu}} and {{w|Churyumov-Gerasimenko}}.
:The justification for this seems to be that we must 'touch' the object before we consider it as worthy of being classified as more than a mere blob (or dot) in space.
:It could be argued that Jupiter and Saturn also count due to the Galileo and Cassini spacecraft respectively.

;Regolithic: Anything covered in dirt and ice and stuff is a planet (infinite)
:This list excludes the {{w|Gas Giant}}s and the {{w|Ice Giant}}s. The list would likely include dwarf planets, asteroids, moons and comets. This is effectively the opposite of the "condescending" definition: every object in the solar system is included in one definition or the other (except for the Sun).
:This is also an extension on the prior classification. In this case we ''could'' meaningfully touch the object, with predominantly atmospheric bodies being not considered so.

;Lunar: You can't be a planet if you don't have a moon (12+ objects)
:Only some objects in the solar system have known and acknowledged moons orbiting them. The value given may be {{w|List of natural satellites|the number of planets and dwarf planets}} that have moons, when excluding {{w|Haumea}} for not reaching {{w|hydrostatic equilibrium}} despite having moons. The Sun is excluded because its satellites are not moons, because ... oh, look, a Squirrel!
:Adopting this definition would suggest that a planetary body is not worthy of the name if it doesn't (with no matter for what reason) demonstrably have the means to dominate its local area by being the overwhelming focus of all adjacent bodies' own orbits.

;Solipsistic: Earth is the only planet (1 planet)
:{{w|Solipsism}} is the idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. Randall extrapolated this idea to mean that only one's own planet that they are standing on is sure to exist.
:This projects (and relies upon) a more philosophical and/or semiotic assessment than any scientific one.

;Judgemental: Only the prettiest ones are planets (6 planets)
:This list is likely formulated from Randall's own perception of the prettiest planets in the Solar System. Strangely, seven objects are highlighted:
:* Earth
:* Jupiter
:* One of Jupiter's moons (unclear, most likely Io or Europa)
:* Saturn
:* One of Saturn's moons (unclear, but almost certainly Titan)
:* Neptune's moon (probably Triton)
:* Pluto
:The subjectivity of this version of the definition makes it unlikely that a consensus of this form could be established.

;Empiricist: Only worlds that I, author of this table, have personally seen are planets (12 planets)
:This list may refer to the celestial objects in the Solar System that have been made visible at night, probably using an optical telescope (a hobbyist one, perhaps Randall's, or from time borrowed on a major institutional installation). Jupiter's {{w|Galilean moons|four largest moons}} are [https://web.archive.org/web/20201112024151/http://denisdutton.com/jupiter_moons.htm technically visible to the naked eye] but hard to distinguish due to Jupiter's brightness, while Neptune is considered too faint to see (even if you know where to look). It may also be the case that Randall has never taken the time to look for Neptune while using a telescope. Apparently Randall has seen Uranus, which technically [https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/how-see-uranus-in-night-sky ''is'' visible to the naked eye] under the very best viewing conditions, but these conditions are rare and it again requires knowing exactly where to look.
:The omission of the Sun from the list of worlds that Randall has personally seen is interesting. Yes, people are not supposed to stare at the Sun{{citation needed}}, but it is not too uncommon to accidentally look in its direction for a split-second before instinctively closing one's eyes and turning one's head away. Also Randall has definitely seen [[:Category:Solar eclipses|solar eclipses]]. But can you empirically say the sun is there when the moon is in front of it? (''Duude'')
:As a different form of subjectivity, the value of this grouping's criteria is questionable, but not uncommon in other 'softer' sciences.

;Marine biologist: Only objects with oceans are planets (6+ planets)
:This list includes Earth, {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}}, {{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}}, {{w|Callisto (moon)|Callisto}}, Titan, and {{w|Enceladus}}. Most of these have had the presence of significant water identified from the way local magnetic/electric fields are detected, but see the following item.
:There is a resemblance, here, to a loose understanding of what a "world" is, i.e. one that possesses various distinct 'terrains' beyond mere dry (and possibly considered featureless) rock. A marine biologist would, of course consider a marine (if not pelagic or bathyspheric) environment to be an essential element of any world.

;Maritime: Only objects with ''surface'' oceans are planets (2 planets)
:In the comic, only Earth and a Saturnian moon (likely to be Titan) are highlighted. Earth is the only body known in the solar system to have liquid water on the surface significant enough to be called an ocean. Titan's cold and dense atmosphere notably maintains surface 'seas' of methane and nitrogen, where other moons (given as additional in the prior item) seem to have their liquid water beneath either whole-surface ice caps or otherwise deep under the surface.
:From the narrower point of view of a sailor, for example, there is no benefit in considering water hidden away far beneath the surface, and it might as well not be there. Whereas it's possible that a well-prepared mariner could eventually sail the strange seas of Titan, as easily (or easier) as an airman might {{w|Dragonfly (Titan space probe)|fly through its skies}}.

;Universalist: They're all planets (infinite)
:This list claims that all objects are planets, all drawn items (also presumably all undrawn/undrawable items) being marked as such, including the Sun.
:Giving up on any thought of exclusivity, this unconventional view willingly inducts all visible objects into consideration.

;Existentialist: What if {{w|outer space|space}} ''itself'' is a planet??? (Duude)
:This list is different from the list above as it claims that all of space, rather than only the objects existing in space, are planets. The interjection ''Duude'' expresses one's amazement at this 'revelation' and replaces the number count— and is sometimes stereotyped to imply the speaker is high on marijuana or other drugs popular with the 1960s hippie counterculture.
:The strange stretch of imagination, as prompted by some narcotic or other, abandons all pretense at sensibly sorting everything into "planet" or "not planet", as not only is everything a planet, but so is the nothing ''between'' these titular planets.

;Spiteful: ''Only'' Pluto is a planet (1 planet)
:This list is a malicious play on the demotion of Pluto by demoting all other planets except Pluto instead, leaving Pluto as the only planet in the solar system. Because after all, what did Pluto do to deserve this? It's a planet, dammit! Let's remove the other eight and see how you like it!
:This is the taxonomic equivalent of refusing to play and taking your ball home to spite those who you think don't deserve it.

;(title text) {{w|Star}}: Earth is a star (2 stars)
:In May 1934, Mark Oliphant, Paul Harteck and Ernest Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory, published an intentional deuterium fusion experiment, and made the discovery of both tritium and helium-3. This is widely considered the first experimental demonstration of fusion. Randall considers that this makes Earth fall into the category of a star due to the human-induced ability for Earth to fuse hydrogen into helium using nuclear fusion.
:One definition of a planet requires that the planet has cleared its "orbital neighborhood" of other objects - objects must either be captured as a moon, or have their orbits disrupted such that they are flung away. Under this definition, one could humorously argue that recent human activities, releasing new objects into orbit like the James Webb Space Telescope, technically disqualify Earth from being a planet, as the orbital neighborhood is no longer completely clear.

:By changing not only the definition, but the term being defined, this drifts yet further from any consensus view on the original question and into a typical punchline absurdity.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A table with 3 columns, and 17 rows below the the header row, labelled "Definition", "# of planets" and "Solar system".]
:[In each row, the first column has a single word, in bold, then a descriptive sentence. The second column has a digit or other 'value'. The third column is a not-to-scale drawing of the Solar system, featuring the Sun, various 'planetary' bodies and an apparently selective sample of moons and asteroids, as follows: The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth with the Moon, Mars with its two moons (Phobos and Deimos), a small selection of some asteroid belt bodies (Ceres in the midst of other, smaller, examples), Jupiter and four of its moons (likely the Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto), a ringed Saturn and usually one of its moons (probably Titan) or two (possibly Enceladus or Iapetus, as required), Uranus and four or five of its moons (likely to be Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon, but one of these (shown upon the face of Uranus) only appears in some iterations of the base image), Neptune and one of its moons (probably Triton), Pluto and one of its moons (Charon), four more plutoid or Kuiper Belt objects (too little context to identify, but possibly Haumea, Makemake, Eris, and maybe Sedna in distance order), the first two of them with distinct moons indicated (entirely dependent upon which main objects they are).]
:[Each row's illustrated solar system has individual combinations of green highlights applied to the otherwise repeated diagram.]
:[Row 1: Definition:] Traditionalist: Pluto is a planet [Number:] 9 [Highlighted: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto]
:[Row 2: Definition:] Modern: Pluto is not a planet [Number:] 8 [Highlighted: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune]
:[Row 3: Definition:] Expansive: Dwarf planets are planets [Number:] 17+ [Highlighted: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres (in Asteroid Belt), Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and the further main bodies]
:[Row 4: Definition:] Ultratraditionalist: Only the classical planets are planets [Number:] 5 [Highlighted: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn]
:[Row 5: Definition:] Condescending: Only giant planets are planets; the rest are big asteroids. [Number:] 4 [Highlighted: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune]
:[Row 6: Definition:] Simplistic: Anything gravitationally round is a planet [Number:] 37+ [Highlighted: The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, The Moon, Mars, Ceres (without other asteroids), Jupiter + moons, Saturn with Titan, Uranus and its moons, Neptune with its moon, Pluto and the four further dwarf planets]
:[Row 7: Definition:] Grounded: Only objects a spaceship has landed on are planets [Number:] 10 [Highlighted: Venus, Earth, The Moon, Mars, five (non-Cererian) asteroids and Titan]
:[Row 8: Definition:] Regolithic: Anything covered in dirt and ice and stuff is a planet [Number:] [infinity symbol] [Highlighted: Mercury, Venus, Earth, The Moon, Mars, Ceres with all other asteroids depicted in the Asteroid Belt, the moons of Jupiter, the sole moon! of Saturn, the moons of Uranus, the moon of Neptune, Pluto with Charon, and all remaining dwarf planets with their moons]
:[Row 9: Definition:] Lunar: You can't be a planet if you don't have a moon [Number:] 12+ [Highlighted: Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and three of the other dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt, including one with no obviously drawn moon]
:[Row 10: Definition:] Solipsistic: Earth is the only planet [Number:] 1 [Highlighted: The Earth]
:[Row 11: Definition:] Judgemental: Only the prettiest ones are planets [Number:] 6 [Highlighted: The Earth, Jupiter with one of its moons (not identified), Saturn, one of ''two'' Saturnian moons in this image and Pluto]
:[Row 12: Definition:] Empiricist: Only worlds that I, author of this table, have personally seen are planets [Number:] 12 [Highlighted: Mercury, Venus, The Earth, The Moon, Mars, Jupiter with its four moons, Saturn and Uranus]
:[Row 13: Definition:] Marine biologist: Only objects with oceans are planets [Number:] 6+ [Highlighted: The Earth, three Jovian moons, the two illustrated Saturnian moons]
:[Row 14: Definition:] Maritime: Only objects with [next word in italics] surface oceans are planets [Number:] 2 [Highlighted: The Earth and Titan]
:[Row 15: Definition:] Universalist: They're all planets [Number:] [infinity symbol] [Highlighted: All drawn objects, including The Sun and all other objects including all the moons/asteroids]
:[Row 16: Definition:] Existentialist: What if space [next word in italics] itself is a planet??? [Word:] ''Duude'' [Highlighted: The whole third column cell]
:[Row 17: Definition:] Spiteful: [next word in italics] Only Pluto is a planet [Number:] 1 [Highlighted: Pluto]

==Trivia==
*In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/6/66/20250314195557%21planet_definitions_2x.png original version of the comic], there were two errors that would later be fixed. The "Traditionalist" definition highlighted Neptune's satellite {{w|Triton (moon)|Triton}} instead of Pluto. The images of the Solar System for the "Traditionalist" and "Modern" definitions were swapped, resulting in Pluto being incorrectly highlighted in "Modern" and omitted in "Traditionalist.

*The "Judgemental" definition has seven colored objects instead of the labelled six. This mistake has never been fixed.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]

3040: Chemical Formulas

2025-01-21T07:50:24Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ link to 2492:_Commonly_Mispronounced_Equations

{{comic
| number = 3040
| date = January 20, 2025
| title = Chemical Formulas
| image = chemical_formulas_2x.png
| imagesize = 275x335px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Can you pass the nackle?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BORON-OXYGEN-TANTALUM-URANIUM-TITANIUM-MOLYBDENUM-TITANIUM-CARBON-ALUMINUM-LITHIUM - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is another comic on [[:Category:How to annoy|How to annoy]] people, in this case chemists.

In this comic, Cueball humorously mispronounces the chemical names of {{w|carboxylic acid}}s. Instead of pronouncing "HCOOH" (for what is technically methanoic acid, or named {{w|formic acid}} from its association with {{w|Formicinae#Identification|ants}}) and "CH3COOH" (ethanoic acid, also known as {{w|acetic acid}}, most often encountered in vinegar) according to their standard chemical names, he says them phonetically as "hakoo" and "chuckoo," which Randall describes in the caption as "How to annoy chemists". This is similar to Randall's pronunciation guide of equations in [[2492: Commonly Mispronounced Equations]].

The title text continues this trend to the humor by referencing the phrase "Can you pass the salt?" but, instead of referring to the commonly understood "salt", Cueball uses "nackle". This is an apparent attempt to pronounce "NaCl", the chemical formula for {{w|sodium chloride}} (the primary constituent of ordinary {{w|table salt}}, as well as {{w|rock salt}}). As well as being an actual request for the {{w|condiment}} (which is not entirely in context with the comic, though may be linked to the prior interest with vinegar), the request may also be used to rhetorically reinforce a previous statement (having metaphorically 'put it on a plate', one is now fully prepared to 'dine' on it). Alternatively, it could be an expression of ''someone else's'' incredulity, as a variation upon "taking <some dubious detail> with {{w|a grain of salt}}".

Incidentally, there ''are'' three Pokémon whose names contain the letters "nacl" pronounced roughly as in the title text, introduced in ''Scarlet and Violet'': [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Nacli_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Nacli], [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Naclstack_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Naclstack], and [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Garganacl_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Garganacl].

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

:[Cueball is gesturing towards a whiteboard that show the chemical formulas HCOOH and CH₃COOH. Below these, respectively, are classic diagramatic representations of formic/methanoic acid [with an apparently accidental doubled bond between the carbon and the hydroxy group] and acetic/ethanoic acid; being, in turn, a single- and double-carbon chain molecule with a double-bonded oxygen (carbonyl group) plus an oxygen-hydrogen (hydroxy) upon one carbon of each, to form the full carboxyl grouping, and hydrogens completing all other expected bonds.]

:Cueball: The two simplest carboxylic acids are hakoo and chuckoo.
:Off-panel voice: No!!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:How to annoy chemists

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:How to annoy]]

893: 65 Years

2025-01-20T14:10:30Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ Artemis III

{{comic
| number = 893
| date = May 2, 2011
| title = 65 Years
| image = 65 years.png
| titletext = The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision.
}}
==Explanation==
[[Randall]] is showing the number of still living humans who have walked on another world for the 65-year period that begins in 1969 (when a human first walked on the Moon). Up to 2011 (when the comic was drawn), he has drawn a single line for the actual figures.

For the subsequent years, he has drawn three lines using {{w|actuarial table}}s or life tables (such tables show, for each age, the probability that a certain person will die within the next year).

The line marked "5th Percentile" indicates that there is a 95% probability that the number alive in a given year will be above that line and a 5% probability that the number alive will be below that line. For example, this line indicates a 5% chance that all Apollo moon-walkers will be dead by 2023, and a 95% chance that at least one will still be alive by that year.

The line marked "95th Percentile" indicates that there is a 5% probability that the number alive in a given year will be above that line and a 95% probability that the number alive will be below that line. For example, this line indicates a 95% chance that all Apollo moon-walkers will be dead by 2035, and a 5% chance that at least one will still be alive by that year.

The middle line is not identified, but is probably the "50th Percentile" (see [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/07/12/a-morbid-python-script/ these tables]). If so, it indicates that there is a 50% probability that the number alive in a given year will be above that line and a 50% probability that the number alive will be below that line. For example, this line indicates a 50% chance that all Apollo moon-walkers will be dead by 2028 (see previous link), and a 50% chance that at least one will still be alive by that year.

Although the term ''other world'' would include all other worlds on which humans have walked, there is currently only one other world on which humans have walked, which is the Moon. The humans that have walked there are the 12 {{w|List of Apollo astronauts#Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon|Apollo astronauts}} who landed on the Moon between 1969 and 1972.

In particular, {{w|Neil Armstrong}} and {{w|Buzz Aldrin}} landed in July 1969. {{w|Pete Conrad}} and {{w|Alan Bean}} landed in November. {{w|Alan Shepard}} and {{w|Edgar Mitchell}}: February 1971. {{w|David Scott}} and {{w|James Irwin}}: July 1971. {{w|John Young (astronaut)|John Young}} and {{w|Charles Duke}}: April 1972. {{w|Eugene Cernan}} and {{w|Harrison Schmitt}}: December 1972.

Irwin died in 1991. Shepard and Conrad died in 1998 and 1999 respectively, making the total 9 as of the date this comic was published. Since then, Armstrong died in 2012, Mitchell in 2016, Cernan in 2017, Young on January 6, 2018, and Bean on May 26, 2018. The death of Bean kept the actual line almost in line with the 50% 'arctuarial line', though it had generally been at least slightly higher prior to that. The situation by January 2025 sees the factual line stay at 4, taking it again beyond the 95% for at least the time being. The oldest living person to have landed on the Moon is Aldrin at 95. Also living are Scott at 92, Schmitt at 89, and Duke at 89.

The chart assumes that no other humans will go to walk on another world within the time-frame plotted and the title text implies that this is primarily an economically determined decision. While noting that not exploring space is a justifiable and sensible decision which may also be made by many hypothetical cultures on other worlds, the text implies a grandness to a civilization that would be given the opportunity to discover, study and memorialize the 'one-world graves' of other civilizations by choosing to explore space despite the economic difficulty. This also implies that the likely consequence of not exploring space is that a civilization which chooses to do this is doomed to go extinct eventually while those which do explore and colonize may last long enough to be safely established on multiple worlds and discover the remains of civilizations which acted on a purely economic basis and hence ensured their own collapse. High five for exoplanet archaeology.

The current earliest opportunity to increase the line again would be NASA's {{w|Artemis III}}, planned for 2027 (delays possible).

==Transcript==
:[A graph titled 'Number of Living Humans Who Have Walked on Another World' - its y-axis is numbered 5, 10, 15, its x-axis increments every ten years from 1960-2040. The line of the graph has a bracket above it that says '65 Years', starting at 1969, ending in 2034.
:The line starts at 1969 and increases steeply to 12 by 1972. It then plateaus until the early nineties, declines gradually to 9 between 1991-1999, and then plateaus again.
:From 2011-2035, which is labeled 'Projected Actuarial Tables', the line branches into three and begins to decline more steeply to zero. The area between the first and second branch is shaded and labeled '5th percentile' and the area between the second and third branch is shaded and labeled '95th percentile.']

==Trivia==
*The theme of actuarial projections was explored earlier in [[493: Actuarial]]; Randall's morbid python script for both was given in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/07/12/a-morbid-python-script/ the blag].

[[File:65_years_actual.png|none|thumb|800px|Version extended to 2025]]

{| class="wikitable"
|+Table of men who walked the moon
|- style="background:#ccc;"
| style="width:20px;"|
| '''Name'''
| '''Born'''
| '''Died'''
| '''Age at first step'''
| '''Age at death'''
| '''Mission'''
| '''Lunar dates'''
| '''Service'''
| '''Alma Mater'''
|- style="background:#def;"
| 1. || {{w|Neil Armstrong}}|| 1930-08-05 || 2012-08-25 (after comic) || 38y 11m 15d || 82y 0m 20d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 11}} ||rowspan="2"| July 21, 1969 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Purdue University}}, {{w|University of Southern California}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 2. || {{w|Buzz Aldrin}}|| 1930-01-20 || || 39y 6m 0d || || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|United States Military Academy}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 3. || {{w|Pete Conrad}} || 1930-06-02 || 1999-07-08 || 39y 5m 17d || 69y 1m 6d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 12}} ||rowspan="2"| November 19–20, 1969 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Princeton University}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 4. || {{w|Alan Bean}}|| 1932-03-15 || 2018-05-26 (after comic) || 37y 8m 4d || 86y 2m 11d || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|University of Texas, Austin}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 5. || {{w|Alan Shepard}} || 1923-11-18 || 1998-07-21 || 47y 2m 18d || 74y 8m 3d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 14}} ||rowspan="2"| February 5–6, 1971 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|United States Naval Academy}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 6. || {{w|Edgar Mitchell}}|| 1930-09-07 || 2016-02-04 (after comic) || 40y 4m 19d || 85y 4m 28d || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Carnegie Mellon University}}, {{w|Naval Postgraduate School}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 7. || {{w|David Scott}} || 1932-06-06 || || 39y 1m 25d ||
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 15}} ||rowspan="2"| July 31 - August 2, 1971 || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|University of Michigan}} (freshman year, and later, an honorary doctorate), {{w|United States Military Academy}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 8. || {{w|James Irwin}} || 1930-03-17 || 1991-08-08 || 41y 4m 14d || 61y 4m 22d || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|United States Naval Academy}}, {{w|University of Michigan}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 9. || {{w|John Young (astronaut)|John W. Young}}|| 1930-09-24 || 2018-01-06 (after comic) || 41y 6m 28d || 87y 3m 13d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 16}} ||rowspan="2"| April 21–23, 1972 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Georgia Institute of Technology}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 10. || {{w|Charles Duke}} || 1935-10-03 || || 36y 6m 18d || || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|United States Naval Academy}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 11. || {{w|Eugene Cernan}} || 1934-03-14 || 2017-01-16 (after comic) || 38y 9m 7d || 82y 10m 2d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 17}} ||rowspan="2"| December 11–14, 1972 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Purdue University}}, {{w|Naval Postgraduate School}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 12. || {{w|Harrison Schmitt}} || 1935-07-03 || || 37y 5m 8d || || None (civillian) || {{w|Caltech}}, {{w|University of Oslo}} (exchange), {{w|Harvard University}}
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

893: 65 Years

2025-01-20T11:13:44Z

Mtcv: included updated version of the graph

{{comic
| number = 893
| date = May 2, 2011
| title = 65 Years
| image = 65 years.png
| titletext = The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision.
}}
==Explanation==
[[Randall]] is showing the number of still living humans who have walked on another world for the 65-year period that begins in 1969 (when a human first walked on the moon). Up to 2011 (when the comic was drawn), he has drawn a single line for the actual figures.

For the subsequent years, he has drawn three lines using {{w|actuarial table}}s or life tables (such tables show, for each age, the probability that a certain person will die within the next year).

The line marked "5th Percentile" indicates that there is a 95% probability that the number alive in a given year will be above that line and a 5% probability that the number alive will be below that line. For example, this line indicates a 5% chance that all Apollo moon walkers will be dead by 2023, and a 95% chance that at least one will still be alive by that year.

The line marked "95th Percentile" indicates that there is a 5% probability that the number alive in a given year will be above that line and a 95% probability that the number alive will be below that line. For example, this line indicates a 95% chance that all Apollo moon walkers will be dead by 2035, and a 5% chance that at least one will still be alive by that year.

The middle line is not identified, but is probably the "50th Percentile" (see [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/07/12/a-morbid-python-script/ these tables]). If so, it indicates that there is a 50% probability that the number alive in a given year will be above that line and a 50% probability that the number alive will be below that line. For example, this line indicates a 50% chance that all Apollo moon walkers will be dead by 2028 (see previous link), and a 50% chance that at least one will still be alive by that year.

Although the term ''other world'' would include all other worlds on which humans have walked, there is currently only one other world on which humans have walked, which is the moon. The humans that have walked there are the 12 {{w|List of Apollo astronauts#Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon|Apollo astronauts}} who landed on the Moon between 1969 and 1972.

In particular, {{w|Neil Armstrong}} and {{w|Buzz Aldrin}} landed in July 1969. {{w|Pete Conrad}} and {{w|Alan Bean}} landed in November. {{w|Alan Shepard}} and {{w|Edgar Mitchell}}: February 1971. {{w|David Scott}} and {{w|James Irwin}}: July 1971. {{w|John Young (astronaut)|John Young}} and {{w|Charles Duke}}: April 1972. {{w|Eugene Cernan}} and {{w|Harrison Schmitt}}: December 1972.

Irwin died in 1991. Shepard and Conrad died in 1998 and 1999 respectively, making the total 9 as of the date this comic was published. Since then, Armstrong died in 2012, Mitchell in 2016, Cernan in 2017, Young on January 6, 2018, and Bean on May 26, 2018. The current (as of December 2024) number is 4, which lies very close to the 95th percentile line. The oldest living person to have landed on the moon is Aldrin at 94. Also living are Scott at 92, Schmitt at 89, and Duke at 89.

The chart assumes that no other humans will go to walk on another world within the time-frame plotted and the title text implies that this is primarily an economically determined decision. While noting that not exploring space is a justifiable and sensible decision which may also be made by many hypothetical cultures on other worlds, the text implies a grandness to a civilization that would be given the opportunity to discover, study and memorialize the 'one-world graves' of other civilizations by choosing to explore space despite the economic difficulty. This also implies that the likely consequence of not exploring space is that a civilization which chooses to do this is doomed to go extinct eventually while those which do explore and colonize may last long enough to be safely established on multiple worlds and discover the remains of civilizations which acted on a purely economic basis and hence ensured their own collapse. High five for exoplanet archaeology.

==Transcript==
:[A graph titled 'Number of Living Humans Who Have Walked on Another World' - its y-axis is numbered 5, 10, 15, its x-axis increments every ten years from 1960-2040. The line of the graph has a bracket above it that says '65 Years', starting at 1969, ending in 2034.
:The line starts at 1969 and increases steeply to 12 by 1972. It then plateaus until the early nineties, declines gradually to 9 between 1991-1999, and then plateaus again.
:From 2011-2035, which is labeled 'Projected Actuarial Tables', the line branches into three and begins to decline more steeply to zero. The area between the first and second branch is shaded and labeled '5th percentile' and the area between the second and third branch is shaded and labeled '95th percentile.']

==Trivia==
*The theme of actuarial projections was explored earlier in [[493: Actuarial]]; Randall's morbid python script for both was given in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/07/12/a-morbid-python-script/ the blag].

[[File:65_years_actual.png|none|thumb|800px|Version extended to 2025]]

{| class="wikitable"
|+Table of men who walked the moon
|- style="background:#ccc;"
| style="width:20px;"|
| '''Name'''
| '''Born'''
| '''Died'''
| '''Age at first step'''
| '''Age at death'''
| '''Mission'''
| '''Lunar dates'''
| '''Service'''
| '''Alma Mater'''
|- style="background:#def;"
| 1. || {{w|Neil Armstrong}}|| 1930-08-05 || 2012-08-25 (after comic) || 38y 11m 15d || 82y 0m 20d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 11}} ||rowspan="2"| July 21, 1969 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Purdue University}}, {{w|University of Southern California}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 2. || {{w|Buzz Aldrin}}|| 1930-01-20 || || 39y 6m 0d || || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|United States Military Academy}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 3. || {{w|Pete Conrad}} || 1930-06-02 || 1999-07-08 || 39y 5m 17d || 69y 1m 6d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 12}} ||rowspan="2"| November 19–20, 1969 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Princeton University}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 4. || {{w|Alan Bean}}|| 1932-03-15 || 2018-05-26 (after comic) || 37y 8m 4d || 86y 2m 11d || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|University of Texas, Austin}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 5. || {{w|Alan Shepard}} || 1923-11-18 || 1998-07-21 || 47y 2m 18d || 74y 8m 3d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 14}} ||rowspan="2"| February 5–6, 1971 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|United States Naval Academy}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 6. || {{w|Edgar Mitchell}}|| 1930-09-07 || 2016-02-04 (after comic) || 40y 4m 19d || 85y 4m 28d || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Carnegie Mellon University}}, {{w|Naval Postgraduate School}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 7. || {{w|David Scott}} || 1932-06-06 || || 39y 1m 25d ||
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 15}} ||rowspan="2"| July 31 - August 2, 1971 || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|University of Michigan}} (freshman year, and later, an honorary doctorate), {{w|United States Military Academy}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 8. || {{w|James Irwin}} || 1930-03-17 || 1991-08-08 || 41y 4m 14d || 61y 4m 22d || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|United States Naval Academy}}, {{w|University of Michigan}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 9. || {{w|John Young (astronaut)|John W. Young}}|| 1930-09-24 || 2018-01-06 (after comic) || 41y 6m 28d || 87y 3m 13d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 16}} ||rowspan="2"| April 21–23, 1972 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Georgia Institute of Technology}}
|- style="background:#def;"
| 10. || {{w|Charles Duke}} || 1935-10-03 || || 36y 6m 18d || || {{w|United States Air Force|Air Force}} || {{w|United States Naval Academy}}, {{w|MIT}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 11. || {{w|Eugene Cernan}} || 1934-03-14 || 2017-01-16 (after comic) || 38y 9m 7d || 82y 10m 2d
|rowspan="2"| {{w|Apollo 17}} ||rowspan="2"| December 11–14, 1972 || {{w|United States Navy|Navy}} || {{w|Purdue University}}, {{w|Naval Postgraduate School}}
|- style="background:#ffe8e8;"
| 12. || {{w|Harrison Schmitt}} || 1935-07-03 || || 37y 5m 8d || || None (civillian) || {{w|Caltech}}, {{w|University of Oslo}} (exchange), {{w|Harvard University}}
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

File:65 years actual.png

2025-01-20T11:01:36Z

Mtcv: /* Summary */

== Summary ==
version of [[:File:65_years.png]] extended to the current day. Also added the astronauts' names, both for moon landing and death. I have a svg version of this file (for future updates) but it seems this cannot be uploaded. I can share this elsewhere if useful.

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file derived}}

File:65 years actual.png

2025-01-20T11:01:10Z

Mtcv: version of File:65_years.png extended to the current day. Also added the astronauts' names, both for moon landing and death. I have a svg version of this file (for future updates) but it seems this cannot be uploaded. I can share this elsewhere if...

== Summary ==
version of [[File:65_years.png]] extended to the current day. Also added the astronauts' names, both for moon landing and death. I have a svg version of this file (for future updates) but it seems this cannot be uploaded. I can share this elsewhere if useful.
== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file derived}}

Talk:3038: Uncanceled Units

2025-01-15T14:40:43Z

Mtcv:

DUDE I'M STILL IN SCHOOL RN, WHAT?
(also, the joke is that energy is power*time, so kWh is kJ/s... in an hour [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 13:27, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

I guess not every comic can be a winner. Talking about an appliance using a certain amount of kWH per day is clear and normal. Power gets billed by the kWh, not the Joule. While technically not wrong, wanting "cancel" a sub-part of the commonly-used energy unit kWh and leaving it in deliberately-obscured units most people are less familiar with is the sort of insanity I'd more expect from White Hat than Cueball. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.35.171|172.70.35.171]] 13:39, 15 January 2025 (UTC)
:Maybe that is a meta-joke? To frame kWh/day as something crazy by giving that line to whitehat --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:52, 15 January 2025 (UTC)
:There's a difference between instantaneous power draw, and the total "volume"(/area, really) of power over time. Though a fridge is "always on", it is still only irregularly at full-draw. But, to the power company (or to the gas company, who will generally give a kWh measure of 'energy taken from the network'), they don't (generally) care whether you used twice as many kW over half the time or half as many over twice the time, within any given total billing period, even if it affects what you think. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.46|172.70.163.46]] 14:39, 15 January 2025 (UTC)
::Using joule as if it was an everyday unit of energy would be weird but I don't agree that watt is crazy. It's a normal unit of energy consumption that does mean something to people, e.g. 1000W microwave, 100W (incandescent) light bulb. Don't get me wrong kWh/day is also useful to translate it to your energy bill, but I do feel slightly uncomfortable every time I see that time divided by time :-) [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 14:40, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

This is especially funny with US units. My car needs about 5l/100km, or 0.05mm². Now I am wondering how many ft^(-2) my car does... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:49, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

fridge [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.147|172.70.126.147]] 14:22, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

The late [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_J._C._MacKay Sir David MacKay] wrote an excellent book, [http://www.withouthotair.com/ Sustainable Energy – without the hot air] (which is available free online).
On [http://www.withouthotair.com/c2/page_24.shtml this page] he talks about the units he uses in the book: kWh for energy ("one unit") and kWh/day for power - becuase it's simple for lay-people to understand - how many units does this appliance use per day.
It's a good book if any of you are interested in sustainable energy (although it was written in 2008, so some bits might be out of date by now)

3038: Uncanceled Units

2025-01-15T14:29:19Z

Mtcv: conclusion of title text

{{comic
| number = 3038
| date = January 15, 2025
| title = Uncanceled Units
| image = uncanceled_units_2x.png
| imagesize = 323x355px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Speed limit c arcminutes^2 per steradian
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE PLANCK CONSTANT, WHICH IS TECHNICALLY A FREQUENCY AND CAN THUS BE EXPRESSED IN HERTZ - Please continue to explain the joke and possible interpretations. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Another of [[Randall]]'s [[:Category:Pet Peeves|pet peeves]], this comic expresses disapproval of units that could be mathematically simplified.

In this comic, [[White Hat]] is presenting a refrigerator to [[Cueball]], claiming it only uses 3 kWh per day. This is a commonly used, but uncancelled unit: kiloWatts x hour / day contains two units of time, which can be cancelled (24h = 1d), yielding 1/8 kW or 125 W. White Hat is expressing the refrigerator's power consumption as a unit of energy divided by time, but his choice of energy unit, kilowatt hour, is itself a unit of power times time (as opposed to the standard unit for energy, the Joule).

Cueball (possibly representing Randall) answers by asking whether the refrigerator would fit in his kitchen, since the ceiling is only 50 gallons per square foot high, which is also an uncancelled unit, as gallons can be transformed to cubic feet, which can be divided by the square feet, yielding a ceiling height of around 203.7 cm, or around 6 feet 8 inches. (Using imperial gallons, the height is approximately 244.7 cm, roughly 8 feet.) Cueball's unit is much less common and was likely deliberately chosen to be harder to understand, which shows how Randall feels about people using other uncancelled units like "kWh per day".

''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'': [https://what-if.xkcd.com/11/ Droppings] also covers strange instances of unit cancellation, including a measure of volume per distance converted to area; similar to Cueball's measure of volume per area representing a distance (the height of his ceiling).

In the title text, a speed limit is given as c arcminutes^2 per steradian, where c is presumably the speed of light in vacuum, 2.998×10^8 m/s (meters per second) or 186282 mi/s (miles per second). A steradian (sr) is the SI unit for solid angle, subtending a section of a sphere, like a radian is a unit of angle subtending a section of a circle. A square arcminute is also a unit of solid angle, equivalent to a section of a sphere of 1/60 of a degree by 1/60 of a degree. There are ((1/60)*(pi/180))^2 = 8.462×10^-8 sr in a square arcminute. Then multiplying by c gives a speed of 56.75 mph (probably 55 mph, based upon the {{w|National Maximum Speed Law|'traditional' US speed limit}}, before rounding errors in the reverse direction), or 91.33 km/h, showing that you can combine an outrageously high speed with two unnecessary units that cancel each other to form a normal road speed.

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

:[White Hat and Cueball are standing to either side of a refrigerator. The fridge has two top compartments and one bottom compartment. The top left compartment has a tall handle on its right, the top right compartment has a tall handle on its left, and the bottom compartment has a long handle on its top. The top left compartment has a paper attached to it with unreadable text, possibly an advertisement.]
:White Hat: This fridge uses only 3 kWh per day!
:Cueball: But will it fit in my kitchen? The ceiling there is only 50 gallons per square foot.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Pet peeve: Uncanceled units

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Pet Peeves]]

3038: Uncanceled Units

2025-01-15T14:10:59Z

Mtcv:

3038: Uncanceled Units

2025-01-15T14:04:12Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */

3038: Uncanceled Units

2025-01-15T13:55:23Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ started title text

3038: Uncanceled Units

2025-01-15T13:42:19Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3038
| date = January 15, 2025
| title = Uncanceled Units
| image = uncanceled_units_2x.png
| imagesize = 323x355px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Speed limit c arcminutes^2 per steradian
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 1440 BOT-MINUTES PER DAY - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, [[White Hat]] is presenting a refrigerator to [[Cueball]], claiming it only uses 3 kWh per day. This is a commonly used, but uncancelled unit: kiloWatts x hour / day contains two units of time, which can be cancelled (24h = 1d), yielding 1/8 kW or 125 W.
Cueball answers by asking whether the refrigerator would fit in his kitchen, since the ceiling is only 50 gallons per square foot high, which is also an uncancelled unit, as gallons can be transformed to cubic feet, which can be divided by the square feet, yielding a ceiling height of around 203.7 cm, or around 6 feet 8 inches.

White Hat is trying to sell a refrigerator to Cueball. In doing so, he touts the power draw of the unit as "three kilowatt-hours per day". But "day" and "hours" are both units of time. "Per" indicates division, so this could be written as (3 kW⋅h / d), or (3 kW⋅h / 24 h). Identical units in the numerator and denominator of a fraction cancel out, so it could also be written as (1/8 kW), or one-eighth of a kilowatt (or 125 watts), a typical power draw for a fridge running between 6 and 8 hours a day.

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

:[White Hat and Cueball are standing to either side of a refrigerator. The fridge has two top compartments and one bottom compartment. The top left compartment has a tall handle on its right, the top right compartment has a tall handle on its left, and the bottom compartment has a long handle on its top. The top left compartment has a paper attached to it with unreadable text, possibly an advertisement.]
:White Hat: This fridge uses only 3 kWh per day!
:Cueball: But will it fit in my kitchen? The ceiling there is only 50 gallons per square foot.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Pet peeve: Uncanceled units

{{comic discussion}}

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

3035: Trimix

2025-01-09T07:40:37Z

Mtcv: rephrased wikipedia quote and added standard ratios mentioned by wikipedia

{{comic
| number = 3035
| date = January 8, 2025
| title = Trimix
| image = trimix_2x.png
| imagesize = 436x259px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = You don't want the nitrogen percentage to be too high or you run the risk of eutrophication.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a FLOATING TRIMIX SCUBA DIVER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Trimix (breathing gas)|Trimix}} is a gas used in SCUBA tanks that consists of {{w|helium}}, {{w|oxygen}}, and {{w|nitrogen}}. Helium replaces a portion of the nitrogen to minimize the gas's narcotic effects at greater depths and to ease the effort required for breathing. This comic jokes that if the helium amount is too high, a diver will float away before reaching the water to start a dive, as a helium balloon will do if not securely tethered.

Trimix comes in some standard ratios between the component gases, depending on the required diving depth, for example 21/35/44 (percentage oxygen/helium/nitrogen), 18/45/37 and 15/55/30 for increasing depth.

For a standard SCUBA tank to serve as a helium balloon capable of lifting a human diver of average size (not counting extra mass from dive accoutrements such as weight belts), it would need to contain approximately 70 kg of pure helium. This loading is more than an order of magnitude greater than the norm of around 3 kg of gas. It might prove difficult to fit such a tank with a regulator that could deliver the gas evenly and safely, and the absence of oxygen could be detrimental to the diver. Moreover, it would cost on the order of US$2000-4000 to charge the tank, an extra financial burden on an already expensive operation. Additionally, tanks contain pressurized gases, which increases their density. For these reasons, SCUBA divers floating in air are seldom encountered.

The title text asserts that a trimix diver whose gas mix contains an excess of nitrogen runs "the risk of eutrophication". The term {{w|Eutrophication|eutrophication}} describes the process by which nutrients ("fertilizers") accumulate in an environment, typically a body of water, leading to consequences that are often unfortunate for inhabitants or users of that environment. The human body is an ecosystem, but one that is not typically subject to eutrophication due to its manner of acquiring and jettisoning nutrients. Moreover, the nitrogen in trimix is diatomic elemental nitrogen, not the {{w|Nitrogen_fixation|"fixed"}} nitrogen that serves as a component of eutrophication. The diver would not breathe "fixed" nitrogen unless nitrogen-fixing bacteria were somehow incorporated into the SCUBA gear, a complex feature of dubious utility.

Randall addressed the question "how much helium is needed to lift a human body" in a [https://what-if.xkcd.com/62/ What if?] article. Helium has also featured in comics [https://xkcd.com/2766/ 2766] and [https://xkcd.com/2972/ 2972].

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

:[In a single frame, Cueball is depicted with scuba gear: goggles, breathing tubes, scuba tanks with a small H logo on them, and swimming flippers. He is standing by the shore of a body of water. To the right, he is shown with his scuba tank lifting up, as shown with three lines. Again, he is shown, but his scuba tanks are higher up and he has turned his head.]

{{comic discussion}}

3035: Trimix

2025-01-09T07:20:44Z

Mtcv: added reason for adding helium, directly taken from wikipedia. I hope this is allowed.

{{comic
| number = 3035
| date = January 8, 2025
| title = Trimix
| image = trimix_2x.png
| imagesize = 436x259px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = You don't want the nitrogen percentage to be too high or you run the risk of eutrophication.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a FLOATING TRIMIX SCUBA DIVER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Trimix (breathing gas)|Trimix}} is a gas used in SCUBA tanks that consists of {{w|helium}}, {{w|oxygen}}, and {{w|nitrogen}}. The helium is included as a substitute for some of the nitrogen, to reduce the narcotic effect of the breathing gas at depth and to reduce the work of breathing. This comic jokes that if the helium amount is too high, a diver will float away before reaching the water to start a dive, as a helium balloon will do if not securely tethered.

For a standard SCUBA tank to serve as a helium balloon capable of lifting a human diver of average size (not counting extra mass from dive accoutrements such as weight belts), it would need to contain approximately 70 kg of pure helium. This loading is more than an order of magnitude greater than the norm of around 3 kg of gas. It might prove difficult to fit such a tank with a regulator that could deliver the gas evenly and safely, and the absence of oxygen could be detrimental to the diver. Moreover, it would cost on the order of US$2000-4000 to charge the tank, an extra financial burden on an already expensive operation. For these reasons, SCUBA divers floating in air are seldom encountered.

The title text asserts that a trimix diver whose gas mix contains an excess of nitrogen runs "the risk of eutrophication". The term {{w|Eutrophication|eutrophication}} describes the process by which nutrients ("fertilizers") accumulate in an environment, typically a body of water, leading to consequences that are often unfortunate for inhabitants or users of that environment. The human body is an ecosystem, but one that is not typically subject to eutrophication due to its manner of acquiring and jettisoning nutrients. Moreover, the nitrogen in trimix is diatomic elemental nitrogen, not the {{w|Nitrogen_fixation|"fixed"}} nitrogen that serves as a component of eutrophication. The diver would not breathe "fixed" nitrogen unless nitrogen-fixing bacteria were somehow incorporated into the SCUBA gear, a complex feature of dubious utility.

Randall addressed the question "how much helium is needed to lift a human body" in a [https://what-if.xkcd.com/62/ What if?] article. Helium has also featured in comics [https://xkcd.com/2766/ 2766] and [https://xkcd.com/2972/ 2972].

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

:[In a single frame, Cueball is depicted with scuba gear: goggles, breathing tubes, scuba tanks with a small H logo on them, and swimming flippers. He is standing by the shore of a body of water. To the right, he is shown with his scuba tank lifting up, as shown with three lines. Again, he is shown, but his scuba tanks are higher up and he has turned his head.]

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:3034: Features of Adulthood

2025-01-07T09:29:30Z

Mtcv: Unexplained smells or noises

No comments yet? Probably everyone's still considering the filling in of the table. As for me, I just put a load of words in about the middle name(s), but perhaps it drifts and could be cut back a lot. However, I think we do know a lot of middle names of people, especially [[2393: Presidential Middle Names|politicians]]. Or at least use their middle initials (like with "John F[itzgerald]. Kennedy"), even if we don't use their full names (like with "Harry S. Truman"... :p ). Not that I've had much experience with middle names. Don't have one myself. Knew a couple of people at school who would admit to having them (one had "Colin", the other had "Douglas"), which weren't really names given to people our age and location, so they ''must'' have been grandparental honorifics (though I'm not sure the names were right for two generations back, either... never enquired further, but maybe they were being traditional ''middle'' names, inherited but never really used). To my knowledge, neither the "Colin" nor the "Douglas" ever went on to use those in post-school life, but at least one of them also changed from their first name as their habitual name to be known by, and likely they prefered to go for something altogether new. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.27|172.69.195.27]] 03:23, 7 January 2025 (UTC)

Unexplained smells or noises: I'm trying to figure out what he means by this. I can't say that this comes up often in my adult life. Am I just deaf and {{w|Anosmia|anosmic}} (I don't think so)? Is Randall worried about gas leaks or his house creaking and falling down? What could he be referencing? [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 09:29, 7 January 2025 (UTC)

3034: Features of Adulthood

2025-01-07T09:18:31Z

Mtcv: /* Events */ briefcases were more popular when Randall was young

{{comic
| number = 3034
| date = January 6, 2025
| title = Features of Adulthood
| image = features_of_adulthood_2x.png
| imagesize = 704x620px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I don't dig pit traps and cover them with sticks and a thin layer of leaves nearly as much as I expected; I find a chance to do it barely once a month.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Unexpectedly created by an adult BOT digging pit traps - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a graph comparing the (mostly) common ideas of adulthood from a young person's perspective with the sad reality of it. The features that are most expected but don't actually come up (quicksand, grappling hooks, crocodiles, and twins switching place) are common tropes in fiction. At the opposite end, some very mundane activities are common but we don't expect them to be important when we're young: deciding what to eat, dealing with weird noises and smells.

It is clear that many of the things that were imagined more likely than they turned out to be are ''direct'' references to fictional scenarios on film or TV, especially with a number of action movie tropes, throughout the 'lower-right triangle'. In contrast, the complimentary 'upper-left triangle' has situations that mostly (though not entirely!) seem to not be portrayed in many fictional depictions.

==Events==

{| class="wikitable"
! Event
! Expected frequency in adulthood
! Actual frequency in adulthood
! Notes
|-
| {{tvtropes|FormalFullArrayOfCutlery|Which fork you're supposed to use for what}}
| 0%
| 0%
| Different types of {{w|forks}} are used to eat different courses of a meal. Usually, cutlery is arranged in a way that makes easier to understand which is needed. Learning which fork to use may be a lesson in an {{w|etiquette school}} class.
|-
| {{tvtropes|CartoonBomb|Lit fuses}}
| 40%
| 0%
| Explosives with visible lit fuses are commonly seen in movies and TV shows. In reality, explosives are more likely to be remotely detonated or have an {{w|time bomb|unlit}} or concealed fuse (e.g. {{w|grenade}}s).
|-
| {{tvtropes|PalatePropping|Shoving a stick}} in a {{w|crocodile}}'s mouth to wedge it open
| 80%
| 0%
| Placing a vertical stick in a crocodile’s mouth is a popular TV trope to prevent the crocodile from {{w|Crocodile attack|bitting down}} (usually on the stick placer).
|-
| {{w|Quicksand}}
| 100%
| 0%
| Quicksand is {{tvtropes|QuicksandSucks|common in adventure fiction}}, but it's quite rare in real life, and an average person is highly unlikely to encounter quicksand in day to day life.{{cn}}
|-
| {{w|Car chase}}s
| 35%
| 5%
| Car chases are frequently seen in movies and TV shows involving police. But unless you're a police officer or criminal trying to evade them, you'll probably never be involved in one. Possibly the only actual car chase many people have actually seen is {{w|O.J.Simpson}}'s white Ford Bronco, which was shown on TV after he was identified as the prime suspect in his wife's murder.
|-
| {{w|Grappling hook}}s
| 100%
| 5%
| A grappling hook is a metal piece that is attached to a rope. If the person is going up a cliff, the “hook” would be thrown or shot at the top of the cliff and would either snag something, or more commonly, would wrap around something like a tree then hook onto itself, thus securing a way up the cliff.
|-
| People offering free drugs
| 30%
| 10%
| Typically refers to illicit drugs. The expectation is that a drug pusher will offer you free samples to get you addicted, then start charging expensive prices.
|-
| {{w|Parachute}}s
| 80%
| 10%
| Giant fabric tarp that is tied to you in order to slow a {{w|Parachuting|very high fall}}.
|-
| {{w|Barrels}}
| 95%
| 10%
| Wooden or {{w|Drum (container)|metal}} storage implements, frequently used as concealment, improvised weapons and (sometimes explosive) obstacles in popular media.
|-
| {{w|Middle name}}s
| 15%
| 20%
| A second (or occasionally also third or more) {{w|given name}}, common in some traditions. Sometimes used specifically to honor someone (perhaps the same first name of a grandparent or loved one, occasionally such a person's surname). It can be used as further identification, if one has a common first and last name. In some families, the first name may be traditionally shared with the appropriate parent (and the grandparent, their parent) and reference by the middle name(s), alone, may be more useful to distinguish the person being addressed from within a family situation. In later life, a person may drop the use of middle names (or, conversely, adopt ''only'' them as the name they are known by) and the unweildy complete set of names becomes less common, as they may be considered unprofessional and unnecessary.
Authors and politicians may most obviously buck this trend, as they have to develop an identity far beyond their immediate personal and professional circles, and perhaps need to be more disambiguously individual and free of confusion from others of similar named as "Firstname Surname", but this might also just reflect that the practice of more formally complete names is a tradition that is being dropped from those of [[Randall]] (Patrick) Munroe's generation, leaving only the generations before (most represented, in the public eye, by elder statesmen and well-read writers) still using them in the way they always did.
|-
| {{w|Food fight}}s
| 50%
| 20%
|
|-
| Twins {{tvtropes|TwinSwitch|switching places}}
| 90%
| 20%
|
|-
| {{tvtropes|PoptheTires|Flat}} {{w|tire}}s
| 10%
| 25%
|
|-
| {{w|Briefcase}}s
| 70%
| 25%
| Frequently used to carry documents and other small office equipment. Often portrayed as {{tvtropes|BriefcaseFullOfMoney|a means to carry a large amount of cash}} or {{tvtropes|BriefcaseBlaster|conceal a firearm}}. The popularity of briefcases has been declining after the 1980s so it's possible that Randall observed grown-ups using briefcases when he was a kid and assumed he would too, only for them to go out of fashion.
|-
| {{w|Martial arts}}
| 95%
| 25%
|
|-
| {{w|Water damage}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Backpack}}s
|
|
| Backpacks of various sizes are a versatile means to carry items. They are almost as popular in real life as in fiction.
|-
| My academic record
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Adhesive}}s
|
|
| Adhesives such as {{w|glue}}, {{w|adhesive tape|tape}} and {{w|epoxy resin}} are used to bond items together, typically for use in arts and crafts. They also have widespread industrial applications.
|-
| {{w|Board game}}s
|
|
| Board games are sometimes used as minigames in video games. The {{w|Mario Party}} franchise is a video game adaptation of the board game formula.
|-
| Tying {{w|knot}}s
|
|
| There are many knots to tie, each with distinct purposes. May also refer to "tying the knot", an expression for {{w|marriage}}.
|-
| {{w|Cable management}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Laser}}s
|
|
|
|-
| Dangerous driving situations
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Pizza}}
|
|
| Often thought of as takeout or delivery food. A favorite of {{w|Spider-Man}} and the {{w|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles}}.
|-
| {{w|Star Wars}}
|
|
|
|-
| Cool toys
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Weather forecast}}s
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Batteries}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Power tools}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Video game}}s
|
|
| Often thought of as a childish pastime, adults frequently play video games.
|-
| Figuring out what to have for dinner
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Heating, ventilation and air conditioning|HVAC}} issues
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Cooking}}
|
|
|
|-
| Secret {{w|password}}s
|
|
|
|-
| Laundry
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Tax}}es
|
|
| One of two inevitable things in life, {{w|Death and taxes|the other being death}}
|-
| Customer service
|
|
|
|-
| Shopping
|
|
|
|-
| Unexplained smells or noises
|
| 100%
|
|-
| Pocket radio communicators
|
| 100%
| Examples include {{w|cell phone}}s, {{w|pager}}s and {{w|walkie-talkie}}s
|-
| Bills
|
| 100%
| Most households have to contend with electricity, water and telecommunication service bills
|-
| Digging {{w|pit trap}}s (title text)
|
|
| Inside the Star Destroyer in [[1608: Hoverboard]] we see [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/fd/1608_1055x1090y_Trap_covered_with_leaves_and_flying_Ponytail_at_bottom_of_hull.png Cueball cover a pit trap with leaves], so this is something Randall actually thinks about sometimes!
|}

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

:[Shown is a scatter plot:]
:Y axis label: How often it comes up in my adult life
:X axis label: How often I expected it to come up in my adult life

:[first row, comes up very often, from least to most expected:]
:Unexplained smells or noises, customer service, pocket radio communicators, bills, shopping
:Figuring out what to have for dinner, HVAC issues, secret passwords, laundry, cooking, taxes
:Weather forecasts, batteries, video games, power tools
:Cable management, dangerous driving situations, pizza, Star Wars, lasers, cool toys
:Adhesives, board games, tying knots
:Water damage, backpacks, my academic record
:Flat tires, briefcases, martial arts
:Middle names, people offering free drugs, food fights, parachutes, twins switching places, barrels
:[last row, comes up very rarely, from least to most expected:]
:Which fork you're supposed to use for what, car chases, lit fuses, shoving a stick in a crocodile's mouth to wedge it open, grappling hooks, quicksand

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Board games]]
[[Category:Animals]]

3023: The Maritime Approximation

2024-12-12T09:17:22Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ knots to Earth radius

{{comic
| number = 3023
| date = December 11, 2024
| title = The Maritime Approximation
| image = the_maritime_approximation_2x.png
| imagesize = 265x126px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It works because a nautical mile is based on a degree of latitude, and the Earth (e) is a circle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SEMICIRCULAR SAILOR - Needs explanation of the origins of the units and constants involved for readers to investigate the confidentiality of the relationship. Also, needs clear explanation of title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Mph ({{w|miles per hour}}) and {{w|Knot (unit)|knot}}s (''nautical miles'' per hour) are both units used to calculate the speed of vehicles. Miles per hour are typically used in the {{w|Miles per hour|US, UK and some smaller countries}} for the speed of cars and other similar vehicles, while knots are used by some sailors or pilots to describe the speed of ships or aircraft. Novice sailors or sailors who spend a lot of time on land may find it helpful to quickly convert between mph and knots. Usually, this is the form of 1 knot = 1.2 mph, or 1 mph = 0.87 knots (1.85 km/h and 0.54 knots for metric sailors), however [[Randall]] has humorously noticed that π mph ≈ e knots: π mph = [https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=pi+mph+in+knots 2.72997] knots, {{w|E_(mathematical_constant)|e}} = 2.71828. This is a coincidence{{Citation needed}} despite the claim of the title text, since even though knots are based on nautical miles which are related to degrees of latitude (and thus to π, which is used to describe the circumference of a circle), miles per hour have no relation to either e or π. Furthermore, the title text makes the connection to e by mentioning "Earth (e)" but e is not a commonly used symbol or abbreviation for Earth and even if it were, it has nothing to do with Euler's number e.

The equality shown in this strip consists of several different parts:

# The mile (1609.344 m) per hour (mph) is a unit of speed common for motor vehicles in a few countries, such as the United States and United Kingdom.
# The knot is a unit of speed that is one nautical mile (1 852 m) per hour, used in nautical contexts.
# π is a number equal to the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, about 3.14159.
# e is Euler's number, the base of the natural logarithm, about 2.71828.

π mph × (1609.344 meters/statute mile ÷ 1852 meters/nautical mile) ≈ 2.729969 knots. The result is only about 0.43% larger than ''e'' knots ≈ 2.71828 knots.

The joke is that it is not exact, but only correct to a certain percentage, unlike {{w|Euler's Identity}}, which is exact and that's what makes the latter truly remarkable. It isn't helped by the fact that it carries the implication that this neat, easy to remember identity is actual useful for sailors but indeed, being easy to remember is all it has going for it. Otherwise it doesn't make calculations any easier and is impossible to do without a calculator or paper, and doing it on paper is much harder than other conversions, given that pi and e are both irrational, and transcendental.

Knots are related to the circumference of the Earth, which can introduce pi, but this is only "useful" if you want to express your speed as a fraction of the radius of earth: 1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour = 1/60 of a degree of Earth's circumference per hour = 1/21,600 of Earth's circumference per hour = 2π/21,600 x Earth's radius per hour. However nowadays this is an approximation because a nautical mile is defined as exactly 1852 m, which is not exactly 1/60 of a degree of Earth's circumference.

Randall has made similar observations of different dimensions that equal each other in the past in the past with comics such as [[687: Dimensional Analysis]], where he compares {{w|Planck Energy}}, the pressure at the earth's core, the gas mileage in a Prius, and the width of the English Channel to Pi. In addition, in [[What If?]], he has compared the mass of Earth to be Pi "milliJupiters," or Pi times the mass of Jupiter divided by 1000, and noted that the volume of a cube with side lengths of one mile is roughly similar to the volume of a sphere with a radius of 1 kilometer.

==Transcript==
:[In a small panel an equation is shown. There is a footnote below the equation:]
:<big>π mph = ''e'' knots*</big>
:*Correct to <0.5%

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The sailor's version of eiπ=−1

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]

3023: The Maritime Approximation

2024-12-12T08:58:06Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3023
| date = December 11, 2024
| title = The Maritime Approximation
| image = the_maritime_approximation_2x.png
| imagesize = 265x126px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It works because a nautical mile is based on a degree of latitude, and the Earth (e) is a circle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SEMICIRCULAR SAILOR - Needs explanation of the origins of the units and constants involved for readers to investigate the confidentiality of the relationship. Also, needs clear explanation of title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Mph ({{w|miles per hour}}) and {{w|Knot (unit)|knot}}s (''nautical miles'' per hour) are both units used to calculate the speed of vehicles. Miles per hour are typically used in the {{w|Miles per hour|US, UK and some smaller countries}} for the speed of cars and other similar vehicles, while knots are used by some sailors or pilots to describe the speed of ships or aircraft. Novice sailors or sailors who spend a lot of time on land may find it helpful to quickly convert between mph and knots. Usually, this is the form of 1 knot = 1.2 mph, or 1 mph = 0.87 knots (1.85 km/h and 0.54 knots for metric sailors), however [[Randall]] has humorously noticed that π mph ≈ e knots: π mph = [https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=pi+mph+in+knots 2.72997] knots, {{w|E_(mathematical_constant)|e}} = 2.71828. This is a coincidence{{Citation needed}} despite the claim of the title text, since even though knots are based on nautical miles which are related to degrees of latitude (and thus to π, which is used to describe the circumference of a circle), miles per hour have no relation to either e or π. Furthermore, the title text makes the connection to e by mentioning "Earth (e)" but e is not a commonly used symbol or abbreviation for Earth and even if it were, it has nothing to do with Euler's number e.

The equality shown in this strip consists of several different parts:

# The mile (1609.344 m) per hour (mph) is a unit of speed common for motor vehicles in a few countries, such as the United States and United Kingdom.
# The knot is a unit of speed that is one nautical mile (1 852 m) per hour, used in nautical contexts.
# π is a number equal to the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, about 3.14159.
# e is Euler's number, the base of the natural logarithm, about 2.71828.

π mph × (1609.344 meters/statute mile ÷ 1852 meters/nautical mile) ≈ 2.729969 knots. The result is only about 0.43% larger than ''e'' knots ≈ 2.71828 knots.

The joke is that it is not exact, but only correct to a certain percentage, unlike {{w|Euler's Identity}}, which is exact and that's what makes the latter truly remarkable. It isn't helped by the fact that it carries the implication that this neat, easy to remember identity is actual useful for sailors but indeed, being easy to remember is all it has going for it. Otherwise it doesn't make calculations any easier and is impossible to do without a calculator or paper, and doing it on paper is much harder than other conversions, given that pi and e are both irrational, and transcendental.

Randall has made similar observations of different dimensions that equal each other in the past in the past with comics such as [[687: Dimensional Analysis]], where he compares {{w|Planck Energy}}, the pressure at the earth's core, the gas mileage in a Prius, and the width of the English Channel to Pi. In addition, in [[What If?]], he has compared the mass of Earth to be Pi "milliJupiters," or Pi times the mass of Jupiter divided by 1000, and noted that the volume of a cube with side lengths of one mile is roughly similar to the volume of a sphere with a radius of 1 kilometer.

==Transcript==
:[In a small panel an equation is shown. There is a footnote below the equation:]
:<big>π mph = ''e'' knots*</big>
:*Correct to <0.5%

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The sailor's version of eiπ=−1

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]

3023: The Maritime Approximation

2024-12-12T08:52:29Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3023
| date = December 11, 2024
| title = The Maritime Approximation
| image = the_maritime_approximation_2x.png
| imagesize = 265x126px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It works because a nautical mile is based on a degree of latitude, and the Earth (e) is a circle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SEMICIRCULAR SAILOR - Needs explanation of the origins of the units and constants involved for readers to investigate the confidentiality of the relationship. Also, needs clear explanation of title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Mph ({{w|miles per hour}}) and {{w|Knot (unit)|knot}}s (''nautical miles'' per hour) are both units used to calculate the speed of vehicles. Miles per hour are typically used in the {{w|Miles per hour|US, UK and some smaller countries}} for the speed of cars and other similar vehicles, while knots are used by some sailors or pilots to describe the speed of ships or aircraft. Novice sailors or sailors who spend a lot of time on land may find it helpful to quickly convert between mph and knots. Usually, this is the form of 1 knot = 1.2 mph, or 1 mph = 0.87 knots (1.85 km/h and 0.54 knots for metric sailors), however [[Randall]] has humorously noticed that π mph ≈ e knots: π mph = [https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=pi+mph+in+knots 2.72997] knots, {{w|E_(mathematical_constant)|e}} = 2.71828. This is a coincidence{{Citation needed}} despite the claim of the title text, since even though knots are based on nautical miles which are related to degrees of latitude (and thus to π, which is used to describe the circumference of a circle), miles per hour have no relation to either e or π.

The equality shown in this strip consists of several different parts:

# The mile (1609.344 m) per hour (mph) is a unit of speed common for motor vehicles in a few countries, such as the United States and United Kingdom.
# The knot is a unit of speed that is one nautical mile (1 852 m) per hour, used in nautical contexts.
# π is a number equal to the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, about 3.14159.
# e is Euler's number, the base of the natural logarithm, about 2.71828.

π mph × (1609.344 meters/statute mile ÷ 1852 meters/nautical mile) ≈ 2.729969 knots. The result is only about 0.43% larger than ''e'' knots ≈ 2.71828 knots.

The joke is that it is not exact, but only correct to a certain percentage, unlike {{w|Euler's Identity}}, which is exact and that's what makes the latter truly remarkable. It isn't helped by the fact that it carries the implication that this neat, easy to remember identity is actual useful for sailors but indeed, being easy to remember is all it has going for it. Otherwise it doesn't make calculations any easier and is impossible to do without a calculator or paper, and doing it on paper is much harder than other conversions, given that pi and e are both irrational, and transcendental.

Randall has made similar observations of different dimensions that equal each other in the past in the past with comics such as [[687: Dimensional Analysis]], where he compares {{w|Planck Energy}}, the pressure at the earth's core, the gas mileage in a Prius, and the width of the English Channel to Pi. In addition, in [[What If?]], he has compared the mass of Earth to be Pi "milliJupiters," or Pi times the mass of Jupiter divided by 1000, and noted that the volume of a cube with side lengths of one mile is roughly similar to the volume of a sphere with a radius of 1 kilometer.

==Transcript==
:[In a small panel an equation is shown. There is a footnote below the equation:]
:<big>π mph = ''e'' knots*</big>
:*Correct to <0.5%

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The sailor's version of eiπ=−1

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]

3023: The Maritime Approximation

2024-12-12T08:49:22Z

Mtcv:

{{comic
| number = 3023
| date = December 11, 2024
| title = The Maritime Approximation
| image = the_maritime_approximation_2x.png
| imagesize = 265x126px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It works because a nautical mile is based on a degree of latitude, and the Earth (e) is a circle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SEMICIRCULAR SAILOR - Needs explanation of the origins of the units and constants involved for readers to investigate the confidentiality of the relationship. Also, needs clear explanation of title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Mph ({{w|miles per hour}}) and {{w|Knot (unit)|knot}}s (''nautical miles'' per hour) are both units used to calculate the speed of vehicles. Miles per hour are typically used in the {{w|Miles per hour|US, UK and some smaller countries}} for the speed of cars and other similar vehicles, while knots are used by some sailors or pilots to describe the speed of ships or aircraft. Novice sailors or sailors who spend a lot of time on land may find it helpful to quickly convert between mph and knots. Usually, this is the form of 1 knot = 1.2 mph, or 1 mph = 0.87 knots (1.85 km and 0.54 knots for metric sailors), however [[Randall]] has humorously noticed that π mph ≈ e knots: π mph = [https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=pi+mph+in+knots 2.72997] knots, {{w|E_(mathematical_constant)|e}} = 2.71828. This is a coincidence{{Citation needed}} despite the claim of the title text, since even though knots are based on nautical miles which are related to degrees of latitude (and thus to π, which is used to describe the circumference of a circle), miles per hour have no relation to either e or π.

The equality shown in this strip consists of several different parts:

# The mile (1609.344 m) per hour (mph) is a unit of speed common for motor vehicles in a few countries, such as the United States and United Kingdom.
# The knot is a unit of speed that is one nautical mile (1 852 m) per hour, used in nautical contexts.
# π is a number equal to the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, about 3.14159.
# e is Euler's number, the base of the natural logarithm, about 2.71828.

π mph × (1609.344 meters/statute mile ÷ 1852 meters/nautical mile) ≈ 2.729969 knots. The result is only about 0.43% larger than ''e'' knots ≈ 2.71828 knots.

The joke is that it is not exact, but only correct to a certain percentage, unlike {{w|Euler's Identity}}, which is exact and that's what makes the latter truly remarkable. It isn't helped by the fact that it carries the implication that this neat, easy to remember identity is actual useful for sailors but indeed, being easy to remember is all it has going for it. Otherwise it doesn't make calculations any easier and is impossible to do without a calculator or paper, and doing it on paper is much harder than other conversions, given that pi and e are both irrational, and transcendental.

Randall has made similar observations of different dimensions that equal each other in the past in the past with comics such as [[687: Dimensional Analysis]], where he compares {{w|Planck Energy}}, the pressure at the earth's core, the gas mileage in a Prius, and the width of the English Channel to Pi. In addition, in [[What If?]], he has compared the mass of Earth to be Pi "milliJupiters," or Pi times the mass of Jupiter divided by 1000, and noted that the volume of a cube with side lengths of one mile is roughly similar to the volume of a sphere with a radius of 1 kilometer.

==Transcript==
:[In a small panel an equation is shown. There is a footnote below the equation:]
:<big>π mph = ''e'' knots*</big>
:*Correct to <0.5%

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The sailor's version of eiπ=−1

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]

Talk:3022: Making Tea

2024-12-10T09:05:39Z

Mtcv:

I wonder where [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party making it in Boston Harbor, at ambient temperature, at scale] would fit on this scale. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.162|172.70.206.162]] 04:38, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
: A little to the left of the microwave thing. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.252|162.158.186.252]] 05:14, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
: Oh, no, much further to the right. You stole our colony from us, set up some tinpot, pretended 'country' in its place, and you didn't even have the class to make a decent cup of tea first. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.93|12.68.205.93]] 06:24, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
: I would like to as a british person to corroborate this, in the 80's my Dad visited the USA (he did go to florida) and still is complaining that the freshly boiled water wasn't poured directly onto the tea bag but was instead the tea bag and the hot water(now luke warm water) and bag was delivered separately!!! The delivery of freshly boiling water on to the bag is the major issue with microwaves, not the nucleation thing in my experience. Bear in mind I don't even actually like tea, still care enough to right this, but i'll be signing this anonymously to avoid shame being bought on my family and my family's familys. Murderous royals are a lot less popular the tea [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.227|108.162.245.227]]
:: And, even if [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68085304 this guy] is right, ''way'' too much salt... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.130|172.70.91.130]] 07:03, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

When I make ramen, I put the measuring cup in the microwave. Fight me. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.87|162.158.167.87]] 05:35, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

"...to the point virtually every home has an electric tea kettle as a standard appliance". If I'm reading it correctly, this and the comic suggests we (though not I, as I'm not a tea-drinker) make tea ''in the electric kettle''. Electric tea-urns, yes, or maybe a setup like a samovar. But, generally, the kettle itself (and, so far as I'm aware, always with an electric kettle) is used to heat the water, which you then pour into the tea''pot'' into which the requisite number of tealeaves/teabags are also put to steep. (Or, for the lazy way, into the mug-with-teabag.) I wouldn't be able to use my electric kettle to (for example) make my instant mashed-potato into the actual mash, if I'd have regularly used it to mash tea. Or top up the boiling saucepan that I'd realised I'd not quite enough water in to cover the pasta/vegetables/whatever. Or to easily add nust a little more heat (with less new water) to the washing-up bowl than would be possible from the hot tap, back to as hot as possible without scalding me. – Whether intentional or not, I suspect Randall has the role of kettle and teapot mixed up, and so (without the intent to parody) has the editor who wrote the above. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.135|172.70.160.135]] 05:49, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

I don't think the section on 'Boiling the water in a pot' refers to a teapot - I think it means boiling the water in a pot on the hob, and then making tea with it (in a pot/mug). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.27|172.69.195.27]] 07:53, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:I agree, but I also think there's a language issue with the use of pot vs. pan that makes things more confusing. I think there are several types of cookware that Americans call pot and British call pan. So British would not say they boil water in a pot but rather in a saucepan (if there's no kettle available of course). [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 09:03, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

I (as Brit) am uncommon in using an electric filter coffee machine to make tea (two bags in what is supposed to be the coffee filter). Set up, press the button and come back to a not jug of fresh tea which is not stewed. If later, the hot plate has shut off and it is cold, you can zap it in a mug in the microwave. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 08:11, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

Talk:3022: Making Tea

2024-12-10T09:03:53Z

Mtcv: pot vs pan

I wonder where [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party making it in Boston Harbor, at ambient temperature, at scale] would fit on this scale. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.162|172.70.206.162]] 04:38, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
: A little to the left of the microwave thing. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.252|162.158.186.252]] 05:14, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
: Oh, no, much further to the right. You stole our colony from us, set up some tinpot, pretended 'country' in its place, and you didn't even have the class to make a decent cup of tea first. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.93|12.68.205.93]] 06:24, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
: I would like to as a british person to corroborate this, in the 80's my Dad visited the USA (he did go to florida) and still is complaining that the freshly boiled water wasn't poured directly onto the tea bag but was instead the tea bag and the hot water(now luke warm water) and bag was delivered separately!!! The delivery of freshly boiling water on to the bag is the major issue with microwaves, not the nucleation thing in my experience. Bear in mind I don't even actually like tea, still care enough to right this, but i'll be signing this anonymously to avoid shame being bought on my family and my family's familys. Murderous royals are a lot less popular the tea [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.227|108.162.245.227]]
:: And, even if [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68085304 this guy] is right, ''way'' too much salt... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.130|172.70.91.130]] 07:03, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

When I make ramen, I put the measuring cup in the microwave. Fight me. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.87|162.158.167.87]] 05:35, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

"...to the point virtually every home has an electric tea kettle as a standard appliance". If I'm reading it correctly, this and the comic suggests we (though not I, as I'm not a tea-drinker) make tea ''in the electric kettle''. Electric tea-urns, yes, or maybe a setup like a samovar. But, generally, the kettle itself (and, so far as I'm aware, always with an electric kettle) is used to heat the water, which you then pour into the tea''pot'' into which the requisite number of tealeaves/teabags are also put to steep. (Or, for the lazy way, into the mug-with-teabag.) I wouldn't be able to use my electric kettle to (for example) make my instant mashed-potato into the actual mash, if I'd have regularly used it to mash tea. Or top up the boiling saucepan that I'd realised I'd not quite enough water in to cover the pasta/vegetables/whatever. Or to easily add nust a little more heat (with less new water) to the washing-up bowl than would be possible from the hot tap, back to as hot as possible without scalding me. – Whether intentional or not, I suspect Randall has the role of kettle and teapot mixed up, and so (without the intent to parody) has the editor who wrote the above. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.135|172.70.160.135]] 05:49, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

I don't think the section on 'Boiling the water in a pot' refers to a teapot - I think it means boiling the water in a pot on the hob, and then making tea with it (in a pot/mug). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.27|172.69.195.27]] 07:53, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
:I agree, but I also think there's a language issue with the use of pot vs. pan that makes things more confusing. I think there are several types of cookware that Americans call pot and British call pan. So British would not say they boil water in a pot but rather in a pan (if there's no kettle available of course). [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 09:03, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

I (as Brit) am uncommon in using an electric filter coffee machine to make tea (two bags in what is supposed to be the coffee filter). Set up, press the button and come back to a not jug of fresh tea which is not stewed. If later, the hot plate has shut off and it is cold, you can zap it in a mug in the microwave. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 08:11, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

3019: Advent Calendar Advent Calendar

2024-12-03T08:22:45Z

Mtcv: usually 24/25 doors

{{comic
| number = 3019
| date = December 2, 2024
| title = Advent Calendar Advent Calendar
| image = advent_calendar_advent_calendar_2x.png
| imagesize = 482x324px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The growth rate of items per day may may seem absurd, but it's actually much less than the acceleration in the 12 Days of Christmas song.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 4 ENVELOPE BACKS 3 NERDS A-EDITING, 2 TURTLE BOTS, AND A FUNNY NEW XKCD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Advent calendars are a form of countdown to Christmas consisting of a card or structure with one closed "window"/opening for each day. Every day, another "window" is opened (e.g. a cardboard flap is opened along perforations), revealing a small present (traditionally, just a thematic picture or chocolate). While the religious season of {{w|Advent}} traditionally begins four Sundays before Christmas, most Advent calendars begin on December 1st for simplicity. Notice that in 2024, when this comic was published, the Advent season coincidentally starts on December 1st. Advent calendars usually have either 24 or 25 doors (ending on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day), depending on manufacturer's choice and/or local tradition.

In this comic, Randall has devised an Advent calendar that contains multiple smaller Advent calendars, each of which contains the same number of items as there are days left until (and ''including'') Christmas Day. By the time he reaches Christmas, he will have 325 different items, or 350 if counting the sub-calendars. The calendar is shown as it might be on December 2nd, the date of publication of this strip. The "window" for December 1st, in the upper left, has 25 sub-windows, of which 2 are open. (One was opened on December 1st and the other on the 2nd.) The "window" for December 2nd, 5th from the left in the bottom row, has 24 sub-windows, of which 1 is open.

It is not clear what is inside each sub-calendar. The usual filling would be chocolate, however it could also be possible that the advent calender advent calendars had even more advent calendars within.

The title text refers to {{w|The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)|The Twelve Days of Christmas}}, a traditional Christmas carol in which the singer receives many gifts from their paramour for each day of the Twelve Days of Christmas. On day one, they receive one gift, and on day ''n'', they receive again all the gifts they received on day ''n-1'', plus ''n'' copies of a new gift. The exact gifts given each day vary by version of the song, receiving 78 gifts on day 12, for a total of 364 gifts. For the Advent calendar Advent calendar, each day a number of items equal to the number of days left until christmas are added. There are 364 items total in the 12 Days of Christmas, the final day itself having exceeded the gifts of the nested calendars (the sub-gift count being 325, and regardless of the 25 calendars also being included).

The advent calendar's advent calendar gift total follows the {{w|triangular number}} sequence of all new gifts on a given day being one more than those the day before: on the first day, this is 1 (the first sub-gift of the first sub-calendar); on the second, we now have 3 (add two sub-gifts from two sub-calendars); on the third, we have 6 (three sub-gifts added), etc. The formula for for the total on day ''n'' is <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.6em; vertical-align: middle; font-size:9pt; text-size-adjust: none;"><tr><td style="text-decoration: underline">''n''(''n''+1)</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center">2</td></tr></table>. For the Twelve Days song (which goes from the 25th of December to 5th of January), ''each day'' adds to the total the next ''triangular number'' in the sequence: +1=1, +3=4, +6=10, etc... The formula for this {{w|tetrahedral number}} (a 'pyramid of triangular numbers') is <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.6em; vertical-align: middle; font-size:9pt; text-size-adjust: none;"><tr><td style="text-decoration: underline">''n''(''n''+1)(''n''+2)</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center">6</td></tr></table>. This already starts in a more rapid escalation of gift-giving, immediately after the first day where both counts are at one item. However, due to the later start of the Twelve Days, one would have to extend the gift-giving patterns to the 17th Day Of Christmas (and thus the 41st day of Advent) for the number of ''true love'' gifts (969) to properly overtake the continuing meta-calendar's ones, with (902) or without (861) counting the sub-calendars as gifts.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[On a grey board, there are 23 Advent calendars behind large "windows", numbered from 3 to 25, plus two open calendars with their covers torn off.]
:[Each calendar numbered ''n'' has 26−''n'' squares in it.]
:[One open calendar has 25 squares, 2 of which are black. The other open calendar has 24 squares, one of which is black.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I like Advent calendars, so I got an Advent calendar that gives me a new one every day until Christmas.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Christmas]]
[[Category:Calendar]]
[[Category:Songs]]

Talk:3019: Advent Calendar Advent Calendar

2024-12-03T08:12:35Z

Mtcv:

Would this basically be triangle numbers? So on Christmas Eve you would open 300 windows?[[User:Tommyds|Tommyds]] ([[User talk:Tommyds|talk]]) 16:01, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
:Yes and no. It's not 12 days of Christmas (as mentioned in the title text), so only the overall number of gifts are a triangle number; you open 30 windows on Christmas Day. The 12 days ref is key as the song generates more gifts if taken literally even in 12 days -- 78 on the last day, 66 on the previous day, etc, for a total of 364. [[User:Mneme|Mneme]] ([[User talk:Mneme|talk]]) 16:35, 2 December 2024 (UTC)

Notice that this year The Advent calendars are correct. Normally, Advent calendars start at the 1st of December even if the Advent starts at a different day. But this year the Advent also starts at the 1st of December. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.172.40|162.158.172.40]] 16:55, 2 December 2024 (UTC)

Donald Knuth wrote a paper for April 1984 Communications of the ACM that included an analysis of the complexity of 12 Days of Christmas. It's in the CACM archive https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/358027.358042. {{unsigned ip|172.70.211.144|16:58, 2 December 2024 (UTC)}}

The explanation currently says "each day, he gets another advent calendar, which each contains 24-25 different items". I don't think that's correct; look at the picture: each day's calendar has one fewer item than the previous one. For example, the 24th only has 2 boxes and the 25th only has one. --[[User:Itub|Itub]] ([[User talk:Itub|talk]]) 17:25, 2 December 2024 (UTC)

Perhaps each smaller advent calendar might also contain a smaller advent calendar and so on ...? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.199|172.70.90.199]] 17:51, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
:Since the 1st has a calendar with a 1st, that would mean an infinite number of calendars just on the first day, so probably not. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.225|172.71.154.225]] 18:03, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
::It could work out if you don't open the first window of a new advent calendar on the day that it is revealed. So on day 1, you open the first window revealing an advent calendar that starts on day 2. Then on day 2 you open the second window, revealing a second advent calendar and the first window of the day 1 advent calendar, revealing a third advent calendar. ... and so on. If my mental math on that is right, it's doubling every day, so 2^24 =~ 16M calendars in total? (I could be off by a day) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.69|172.71.147.69]] 19:38, 2 December 2024 (UTC)

Can we just take a moment to appreciate whoever named the bot for this page? They wrote as follows: Created by 4 ENVELOPE BACKS 3 NERDS A-EDITING, 2 TURTLE BOTS, AND A FUNNY NEW XKCD. [[User:Willintendo|Willintendo]] ([[User talk:Willintendo|talk]]) 23:26, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
:That note is hand-edited on the first couple of edits. Not sure why that rule exists, though. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 00:50, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

The title text says 'may' twice, "per day may may [sic] seem absurd" --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.236.163|198.41.236.163]] 00:01, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

The German YouTube channel "Malternativ" has actually done this a couple years: Opening one advent calendar every day. He went more and more insane as December went on… [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 00:50, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

Noting that the calendar is entirely correct for the day of publication. Too much to hope for that it is ''kept'' correct for each further day of Advent until (or, rather, 'until and including', as noted at least once above) Christmas Day? Maybe worth checking to see if (at an appropriate time, Randall-time, later today on the 3rd) it hasn't been updated. Or some special sub-page appeared with a revised (Time-like) update. Just in case. And, if Randall doesn't, I'm sure it's not beyond our own wit to make adjustments/animate as a fan-copy. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.214|172.70.91.214]] 01:57, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/xzibit-yo-dawg Yo Dawg], I herd you like advent calendars, so I put an advent calendar in your advent calendar so you can count down while you count down. [[User:Solomon|Solomon]] ([[User talk:Solomon|talk]]) 03:31, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

Wonder how many chocolates you would get if you did this with the life expectancy advent calendar. [[User:N-eh|N-eh]] ([[User talk:N-eh|talk]]) 04:40, 3 December 2024 (UTC)
:At some point, most people would reach the point at which that many chocolates would be a lethal (or at least LD50) quantity, so would be a self-shortening process. For those who reach the end of their LEAC ''without'' it actually being the cause of death, there should be a compensatory (or 'condolances') supply hidden on the back, for entirely guilt-free eating. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.200|172.70.162.200]] 06:01, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

Nobody tell Stuart and Dan about this one... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.183.11|172.71.183.11]] 06:56, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

I still don't understand it. Does he not open the first and second door of the second calendar on the second day? If not, does he open the first or the second door of the second calendar. Do the other items stay in the calendar? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.245.162|162.158.245.162]] 07:36, 3 December 2024 (UTC)
:Each next calendar has one fewer doors. So the second calendar starts with door number 2. On 1 December he opens the number 1 door revealing the first subcalendar, where he opens the number 1 door. On 2 December he opens the number 2 door of the first subcalendar and then the second door of the big calendar, revealing the second subcalendar, where he opens the first door, which is the number 2 door, since it has no number 1 door. [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 08:12, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

Talk:3014: Arizona Chess

2024-11-21T08:57:07Z

Mtcv: Arizona and which other state?

I added a basic explanation, how did I do? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.115.129|172.70.115.129]] 14:56, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
:''pat pat'' Good job. [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 15:28, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
I guess chess timers work based on the IERS. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.223.126|172.71.223.126]] 15:32, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
: See "{{w|Chess_clock|chess clocks}} don't work that way" comment, below. If they did, they would almost certainly reference {{w|Coordinated_Universal_Time|Zulu time}}, which doesn't recognize daylight saving or other local time adjustments. This would go badly for Cueball. Moreover, White Hat could be forgiven for thinking that he had won the game when the clock went "beep" in the third panel, because beeping/flag falling in a chess clock should signal end of match because Cueball's time had run out (the fourth panel asserts that Cueball's time did not, in fact, expire). A minor additional irregularity in what is already a seriously contrived situation. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.23.91|172.68.23.91]] 20:34, 20 November 2024 (UTC)

If white hat had conserved 20 seconds through the course of the game, they would have won. Cueball must have been sweating if they were relying on this strategy. [[User:Radialsymmetry|Radialsymmetry]] ([[User talk:Radialsymmetry|talk]]) 15:35, 20 November 2024 (UTC)

Here's one building that might qualify (it appears to be a shed or outbuilding belonging to a house in Mesquite, Nevada): https://www.google.com/maps/@36.808703609641505,-114.05009436731552,55m
 I believe that's the only one that straddles the Arizona border with a Pacific Time Zone state (California and Nevada), so (head-)canonically, that's where the comic is set. {{unsigned ip|172.69.6.190|17:15-26, 20 November 2024}}

No, chess clocks don't work that way. They are simple timers that do not refer to actual time of day in any way, any more than a stopwatch does. Randall just made it work that way for the sake of the joke. {{unsigned ip|172.71.194.17|20:17, 20 November 2024}}
:Speaking from the experience of one in a sport where some are seeking to "improve" upon the use of a manual stopwatch/timer process with a computerised replacement (anything from a smartphone to a home-computer, often with a live online connection), I'm seeing several cases where time differences between equipment (e.g. GPS time vs. 'radio'/time-signal time) has caused confusion, never mind the possibility of random external events (...OS Update notifications, AV scans going active, etc) or other external interferences. In ways that would never happen to a dedicated timing device that's not even listening out for a national time-signal broadcast (which I know for certain can suffer from interference).
:Also, in case anybody is bothered, it's not really a "clock" if it doesn't have a bell (or bells), as per the German "Glocke"/French: "Cloche". Although possibly a single-match "chess clock" could have such a bell for an audible alert, as well as other mechanical 'flag' indicators. But, often, what most people might call a clock is perhaps more just a "timepiece". (Watches/stopwatches/timers/etc, is another matter of sub-distinction, which I try not to be too confusing, or even wrong, about.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.226|172.69.194.226]] 00:53, 21 November 2024 (UTC)

Is the neighbouring state {Utah or New Mexico} or {Nevada or California}? I'm not from the US so I'm not sure how your rules work. 172.69.6.190 above seems to think it's the latter but aren't they both on Mountain Time before the clocks change?

==North America vs. Europe vs. Australia==
One difference between the way parts of North America change time and the way parts of Europe do is that the various North American time zones fall back/jump forward at 2AM local time, while European time zones all change at the same instant (01:00 UTC/WET (02:00 CET, 03:00 EET). That means that the same "trick" could work by sitting on the line between any American time zones at the changeover, but not by sitting on the European lines. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.47.138|172.70.47.138]] 15:37, 20 November 2024 (UTC)

A related oddity occurs in the City of The Gold Coast, in Australia, which straddles the Queensland/New South Wales border. The border runs through a built up area, and as NSW has DST but Queensland does not, there are places that are, for one hour each year, in different years, despite being only a few metres apart. You can celebrate the New Year at a bar in Tweed Heads, then cross the road to a bar in Coolangatta, and celebrate the New Year all over again an hour later. I believe this is the only border in the world that runs through a built up area and has different timezones at New Year; New Year being in winter in the Northern Hemisphere means that such DST related anomolies are strictly a Southern Hemisphere phenomenon. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.64.206|172.68.64.206]] 00:09, 21 November 2024 (UTC)

Should the comment about Hawaii be kept? It seems irrelevant. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.129|172.70.111.129]] 15:42, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
:removed [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 16:15, 20 November 2024 (UTC)

== Which songs would go well with this scene? ==

His World comes to mind... [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 17:13, 20 November 2024 (UTC)

''...con Lentitud Poderosa'' right as the crazy part starts. 100%. -[[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 02:03, 21 November 2024 (UTC)

2992: UK Coal

2024-10-14T09:24:01Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ added

{{comic
| number = 2992
| date = September 30, 2024
| title = UK Coal
| image = uk_coal_2x.png
| imagesize = 532x232px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Watership Down rabbits removed an additional 0.1 nanometers constructing their warren, although that was mostly soil. British rabbits have historically mined very little coal; the sole rabbit-run coal plant was shut down in the 1990s.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic uses dimensional analysis to describe the end of coal-powered energy production in the United Kingdom, in reference to the [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y35qz73n8o shutting down of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal power plant] in central England on Monday, September 30, 2024. This event signified the closure of the last coal-fired power plant in the UK. This is an important milestone in global energy use, because the United Kingdom was at the forefront of the {{w|Industrial Revolution}}, which began an era of large-scale coal extraction to fuel the world's industries. Over the course of the past several decades, coal has increasingly fallen out of favor, with natural gas becoming a more viable power source, and an increasing percentage of energy needs being met without the use of fossil fuels (from sources such as nuclear, hydro, solar and wind power). The fact that the UK has now fully transitioned away from the use of coal as a major energy source marks a major shift in how industrialized nations are powered.

UK coal ''production'' has also been in decline significantly since {{w|1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike|the politically enforced decline in the 1980s}}, and the proposed opening of the new {{w|Woodhouse Colliery}} in Cumbria [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62533nyvzwo seems to have been stopped], leaving just the [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coal-mining-production-and-manpower-returns-statistics-2023/coal-mining-production-and-manpower-returns-received-by-the-coal-authority-january-to-march-2023 remnants of the coal-mining industry] active. There remain uses for coal, both locally obtained and imported, but the conversion away from coal [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70zxjldqnxo in various industries] marks a possible soft-end to the era of coal use in Britain. The equation shown in the comic determines how much coal was mined in the UK with respect to the surface area of the region, and calculates that this represents the removal of an average of about 8.0 cm (in imperial units, 3.2 inches) across the whole of the United Kingdom. This is another example of Randall doing unusual unit cancellation, as seen for instance in the ''What If?'' chapter [https://what-if.xkcd.com/11/ Droppings]. The accompanying picture implies that this coal has actually been removed in an even layer across the surface area of the country, resulting in ground level now being three inches lower. In reality, coal is extracted from deposits in specific locations, leaving other areas generally unaffected. Also while some of it has been {{w|Open-pit_mining| open-cast mined}}, leaving visible quarrying scars (that may have been partially relandscaped), much of it has been mined sub-surface, with minimal effect on the surface itself, except where it may cause {{w|Flash (lake)|localized subsidence}}, sometimes of significant depth.

The calculation can be performed as follows:
*UK total coal production: 25 billion = 25,000,000,000; tonnes = metric tons = 1000kg. So 25 billion tonnes = 25,000,000,000,000kg
*coal seam density: 1L = 0.001m3. So 1.3kg/L = 1300kg/m3.
*UK land area: 1km2 = 1,000,000m2. So 240,000km2 = 240,000,000,000m2.
*25,000,000,000,000/(1300 * 240,000,000,000) = 25,000,000,000,000/312,000,000,000,000 = 25/312 = 0.08
*kg/[(kg/m3)*m2] = 1/(m2/m3) = m3/m2 = m
*0.08m = 8cm = 3.2 inches (1 inch = 2.54cm)

''UK DESNZ'', referenced in the comic, is the United Kingdom's {{w|Department for Energy Security and Net Zero}}, the source for the statistic on UK total coal production from 1853 to present; see DESNZ's historical statistics of coal production [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/historical-coal-data-coal-production-availability-and-consumption here].

Since [[Randall]] is warning about [[:Category:Climate change|climate change]] in several of his comics, he likely sees this as an important step away from the use of fossil fuel.

The comic’s title text adds a similar, but even more ludicrous, metric for earth excavated for a rabbit warren. The volume of earth described, 0.1 nm × 240,000 km2, is equal to 24 m3 (≈ 31 cubic yards). The text refers to {{w|Watership Down}}, a 1972 novel about a group of English rabbits. (A sole sequel to Watership Down, {{w|Tales from Watership Down}}, was published in 1996.) The text also refers to a former rabbit-run coal plant in the UK and claims that it was shut down in the 1990s. No actual {{w|Run, Rabbit, Run|rabbit-run}} coal plants have ever been documented.{{fact}}

==Transcript==
:[The following formula is shown (with the divisors below a horizontal line in the comic, rather than inside square brackets):]
:UK total coal production (1853-present, ''UK DESNZ'') / [(coal seam density) × (UK land area)] = 25 billion tonnes / [1.3kg/L × 240,000km²] ≈ 3 inches
:[Cueball is standing to the right of the formula, upon a dotted line representing the prior ground level. Two arrows indicate that the dotted line is 3 inches above the solid line that is the current ground level. One arrow goes from the end of the word inches to the dotted line the other is short and goes up from below pointing at the solid line.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The UK shut down their last coal power plant today, which means that over the course of the industrial revolution, they dug up and burned an average of 3 inches of their country.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Climate change]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2992: UK Coal

2024-10-14T09:19:40Z

Mtcv: calculation in text

{{comic
| number = 2992
| date = September 30, 2024
| title = UK Coal
| image = uk_coal_2x.png
| imagesize = 532x232px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Watership Down rabbits removed an additional 0.1 nanometers constructing their warren, although that was mostly soil. British rabbits have historically mined very little coal; the sole rabbit-run coal plant was shut down in the 1990s.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic uses dimensional analysis to describe the end of coal-powered energy production in the United Kingdom, in reference to the [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y35qz73n8o shutting down of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal power plant] in central England on Monday, September 30, 2024. This event signified the closure of the last coal-fired power plant in the UK. This is an important milestone in global energy use, because the United Kingdom was at the forefront of the {{w|Industrial Revolution}}, which began an era of large-scale coal extraction to fuel the world's industries. Over the course of the past several decades, coal has increasingly fallen out of favor, with natural gas becoming a more viable power source, and an increasing percentage of energy needs being met without the use of fossil fuels (from sources such as nuclear, hydro, solar and wind power). The fact that the UK has now fully transitioned away from the use of coal as a major energy source marks a major shift in how industrialized nations are powered.

UK coal ''production'' has also been in decline significantly since {{w|1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike|the politically enforced decline in the 1980s}}, and the proposed opening of the new {{w|Woodhouse Colliery}} in Cumbria [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62533nyvzwo seems to have been stopped], leaving just the [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coal-mining-production-and-manpower-returns-statistics-2023/coal-mining-production-and-manpower-returns-received-by-the-coal-authority-january-to-march-2023 remnants of the coal-mining industry] active. There remain uses for coal, both locally obtained and imported, but the conversion away from coal [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70zxjldqnxo in various industries] marks a possible soft-end to the era of coal use in Britain. The equation shown in the comic determines how much coal was mined in the UK with respect to the surface area of the region, and calculates that this represents the removal of an average of about 8.0 cm (in imperial units, 3.2 inches) across the whole of the United Kingdom. This is another example of Randall doing unusual unit cancellation, as seen for instance in the ''What If?'' chapter [https://what-if.xkcd.com/11/ Droppings]. The accompanying picture implies that this coal has actually been removed in an even layer across the surface area of the country, resulting in ground level now being three inches lower. In reality, coal is extracted from deposits in specific locations, leaving other areas generally unaffected. Also while some of it has been {{w|Open-pit_mining| open-cast mined}}, leaving visible quarrying scars (that may have been partially relandscaped), much of it has been mined sub-surface, with minimal effect on the surface itself, except where it may cause {{w|Flash (lake)|localized subsidence}}, sometimes of significant depth.

The calculation can be performed as follows:
*UK total coal production: 25 billion = 25,000,000,000; tonnes = metric tons = 1000kg. So 25 billion tonnes = 25,000,000,000,000kg
*coal seam density: 1L = 0.001m^3. So 1.3kg/L = 1300kg/m^3.
*UK land area: 1km^2 = 1,000,000m^2. So 240,000km^2 = 240,000,000,000m^2.
*25,000,000,000,000/(1300 * 240,000,000,000) = 25,000,000,000,000/312,000,000,000,000 = 25/312 = 0.08
*kg/[(kg/m^3)*m^2]=1/(m^2/m^3)=m^3/m^2=m
*0.08m=8cm=3.2 inches (1 inch = 2.54cm)

''UK DESNZ'', referenced in the comic, is the United Kingdom's {{w|Department for Energy Security and Net Zero}}, the source for the statistic on UK total coal production from 1853 to present; see DESNZ's historical statistics of coal production [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/historical-coal-data-coal-production-availability-and-consumption here].

Since [[Randall]] is warning about [[:Category:Climate change|climate change]] in several of his comics, he likely sees this as an important step away from the use of fossil fuel.

The comic’s title text adds a similar, but even more ludicrous, metric for earth excavated for a rabbit warren. The volume of earth described, 0.1 nm × 240,000 km2, is equal to 24 m3 (≈ 31 cubic yards). The text refers to {{w|Watership Down}}, a 1972 novel about a group of English rabbits. (A sole sequel to Watership Down, {{w|Tales from Watership Down}}, was published in 1996.) The text also refers to a former rabbit-run coal plant in the UK and claims that it was shut down in the 1990s. No actual {{w|Run, Rabbit, Run|rabbit-run}} coal plants have ever been documented.{{fact}}

==Transcript==
:[The following formula is shown (with the divisors below a horizontal line in the comic, rather than inside square brackets):]
:UK total coal production (1853-present, ''UK DESNZ'') / [(coal seam density) × (UK land area)] = 25 billion tonnes / [1.3kg/L × 240,000km²] ≈ 3 inches
:[Cueball is standing to the right of the formula, upon a dotted line representing the prior ground level. Two arrows indicate that the dotted line is 3 inches above the solid line that is the current ground level. One arrow goes from the end of the word inches to the dotted line the other is short and goes up from below pointing at the solid line.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The UK shut down their last coal power plant today, which means that over the course of the industrial revolution, they dug up and burned an average of 3 inches of their country.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Climate change]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2987: Tectonic Surfing

2024-09-19T07:42:49Z

Mtcv: title text

{{comic
| number = 2987
| date = September 18, 2024
| title = Tectonic Surfing
| image = tectonic_surfing_2x.png
| imagesize = 447x210px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The worst is when you wipe out in the barrel and you're trapped for several million years until erosion frees you.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an OVERCROWDED SURFBOARD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Beret Guy]] is doing tectonic surfing. This seems to be surfing on tectonic plates, which move very slowly.{{cn}} He seems to be moving horizontally at about 4-5 cm/year (~1 m/20 yrs) which would put him on one of the moderately fast plates,<ref>https://www.pnsn.org/outreach/about-earthquakes/plate-tectonics</ref><ref>https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/tectonics.html</ref> at least relative to the more stable North American plate.

While doing this he says "Radical", "Gnarly", and "Hang loose" which are commonly used among surfers.

The title text refers to riding the barrel, in which one surfs inside the hollow part of a breaking wave, while a wipe out means you get swept off your surf board. If you wipe out in a barrel, you most likely submerge under water. If this were possible in tectonic surfing, you would be stuck under a tectonic plate and you would have to wait until the material in which you're trapped erodes. In reality, there's no such thing are breaking waves or barrels in plate tectonics{{Citation needed}}. Things do get trapped when two tectonic plates collide in a process called {{w|subduction}}, in which one plate disappears below another.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball walks up to Beret Guy. Beret Guy is standing with one leg in front of another and his arms spread wide.]
:Cueball: What are you doing?
:Beret Guy: Tectonic surfing!

:[Cueball is standing behind Beret Guy, who is in the same pose.]
:Beret Guy: Radical!
:Beret Guy: Gnarly!
:Beret Guy: Hang loose!

:[Beret Guy is alone, still in the same position in the center of the panel.]

:[Caption:]
:20 years later:
:[Beret Guy is in the same position, but at the right edge of the panel.]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2980: Lava Lakes

2024-09-03T08:42:52Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */ hazards wiki link

{{comic
| number = 2980
| date = September 2, 2024
| title = Lava Lakes
| image = lava_lakes_2x.png
| imagesize = 709x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hey, golf balls float on lava, so this should make recovering them from the hazards easier.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A GOLF BALL <s>FLOATING ON</s> <s>MELTING IN</s> CAUSING AN EXPLOSION IN THE 6TH LAVA LAKE (FORMER GOLF COURSE) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The comic shows [[Megan]] (or [[Danish]]) talking to [[Black Hat]], mentioning the common myth that there's a lava lake in the crater of every volcano. She points out that there are really only around five lava-filled volcano craters in the world right now. Black Hat responds to this by creating a new one on a nearby golf course. Given that Megan was still waiting when Black Hat came back, the attention span of most people is shorter than the time it takes lava lakes to form, and that sane people do not build golf courses directly over active volcanoes, Black Hat would've needed to dig at least 8 kilometers of earth within a very short timespan, which is impossible for a normal human being. Also, since this action was prompted by Megan's remark, Black Hat could not have built or moved anything capable of making a lava lake to the golf course beforehand.

The title text mentions that golf balls will float on lava, making recovering them from {{w|Hazard_(golf)|hazards}} (man-made obstacles such as sand or water) easier. The density of a normal golf ball is about 1.13 grams per cubic centimeter, which is significantly less than the 2.4 ~ 2.9 grams per cubic centimeter of lava. It ''would'' be very easy to retrieve golf balls from lava because of this, if it were not for the fact that lava is hot. Lava is around 800 °C, while golf balls start to melt at ~80 °C{{acn}}. Not to mention that the interaction of lava with solids at STP [https://www.usgs.gov/media/videos/rockfall-halemaumau tends to be violent]. Attempts to retrieve golf balls from lava would be profoundly dangerous, and have a vanishingly small probability of success.

These may be the 5 volcano lakes that the comic references ({{w|Lava_lake#List_of_volcanoes_having_displayed_past_or_present_lava_lake_activity|source}}):
* {{w|Erta Ale}} in Ethiopia
* {{w|Mount Erebus}} on Ross Island, Antarctica
* Kīlauea {{w|Halema%CA%BBuma%CA%BBu|Halemaʻumaʻu}} on Hawaiʻi (Big Island) [no active lake in September 2024]
* {{w|Mount_Nyiragongo|Nyiragongo}} in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
* {{w|Mount Michael}} on Saunders Island, South Sandwich Islands

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan and Black Hat are talking, with Megan holding up one hand towards Black Hat]
:Megan: People think volcano craters are full of lava, but that’s rare. There are only five or so lava lakes in the world right now.

:[Black Hat puts one hand up to his chin]
:Black Hat: Interesting.

:[Black Hat walks out of frame off to the right]

:[Megan stands while three distinct sound effects come off-panel from the right]
:Rumble
:Crash
:BOOOOM

:[Black Hat walks back into frame]
:Megan: What did you—
:Black Hat: There are six now.
:Off-panel voice to the right: Why is the golf course erupting!?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Volcanoes]]

2964: Olympic Sports

2024-08-01T07:51:23Z

Mtcv: Belgian shot-putter doing hurdles came to mind, so added a link

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

==Explanation==
This comic was officially published on the day of the opening ceremony of the {{w|2024 Summer Olympics|2024 Paris (Summer) Olympics}}, though it actually appeared early the following day.

In this comic, [[Randall]], who has no athletic training, imagines himself participating in various Olympic events, with his degrees of failure measured in terms of their humor potential.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Olympic sports ranked by how funny it would be if a regular person competed
! How funny !! Sport !! Reason
|-
|rowspan=5| Not that funny || {{w|Rowing}} - One or more people row a boat to a destination.|| The person would struggle to row effectively, falling out of cadence and fouling the oars of the other rowers in their boat. However, if Randall competed in the single sculls, such coordination would not be an issue, and he would likely just be much slower than the other competitors. Or fall in the water.
|-
| {{w|Fencing}} - Two contestants attempt to land hits on each other with a long fencing weapon.|| Contrary to what is often portrayed in movies, sword fights of any kind are very quick, often lasting just a few seconds. Olympic fencing matches are especially fast, and an untrained layman watching the fight would probably be unable to tell the difference between a fight between two experts and a fight in which one person had no experience, aside from that said person would lose every bout.
|-
| {{w|Weightlifting}} - Contestants lift weights, which, in the Olympics, get heavier with each round, until all but one fail to lift.|| They might just fail to lift the weights.
|-
| {{w|Golf}} - Contestants attempt to use golf clubs to hit a golf ball into one or more holes in as small a number of hits as possible.|| They would likely miss the ball or hit poorly, due to an incorrect stance/swing when hitting, using a club whose loft (angle of the front face) is inappropriate, or just basic lack of skill.
----
''The comic illustrates this by having Randall putt and miss the hole at very close range.''
|-
| {{w|Archery}} - Using a bow and arrow, contestants attempt to hit a target with as much accuracy as possible.|| Arrows might miss the target, but this wouldn't be particularly amusing (unless Randall forgoes armbraces & discovers the bowstring's propensity for smacking the inside of his wrist after releasing it).
----
''The comic shows Randall missing all his shots on the target.''
|-
|rowspan=5| Pretty funny || {{w|Swimming}} - Contestants swim to a destination or complete lengths as fast as possible.|| They might struggle to stay afloat (particularly in open water swimming, where they would be buffeted by other contestants) or {{w|Eric Moussambani|swim awkwardly}}. They are also likely to have a markedly different physique to the other competitors, which would have a comic effect.
|-
| {{w|Long jump}} - Contestants, with a running start, attempt to jump as far as possible.|| They would likely make a very short jump, or perhaps foul every jump.
|-
| {{w|Pole vault}} - Using a bendable pole, contestants attempt to propel (vault) themselves over a bar.|| They might miss the plant and end up dropping the pole and running under the bar. If they did manage to get some lift, but failed to get enough to reach the mat, it would probably be concerning, rather than funny.
|-
| {{w|Diving}} - Contestants attempt to fulfil multiple criteria while diving into water.|| Awkward or painful-looking dives could ensue. Potential for injury would be high.
|-
| {{w|Hurdles}} - Contestants run on a track with hurdles positioned at various places.|| They might trip and fall over the hurdles, just knock them all over as they fail to clear them, or [https://www.npr.org/2023/06/26/1184329986/belgian-shot-putter-runs-hurdles-belgium carefully step over each hurdle].
----
''Drawn in this section, Randall repeatedly and unpleasantly runs into the hurdles, unable to jump over any of them. He has his arm raised bent in front of his face in a classic hurdler's pose, but appears to have failed to get much, if any, height off the ground.''
|-
|rowspan=5| Incredibly funny || {{w|Figure skating}} [The only Winter Olympic discipline featured in the main comic] Competitors perform artistic routines set to music while skating on an ice rink, and are judged on a combination of skating skill, composition, and presentation. || They might slip and fall continually on the ice, with a high risk for sprained joints or bone fractures. This might have particular comic potential if Randall were skating as part of a pair, awkwardly attempting to lift and spin a partner, or perhaps doing nothing but being lifted and dragged around by them.
|-
| {{w|Horizontal bar}} - A horizontal bar is used to perform gymnastics.|| They might fail to perform any flips or lose their grip on the bar, falling to the safety mats below. In all likelihood, having been lifted to the bar, they would simply hang helplessly beneath it, managing minimal swings backwards and forwards.
|-
| {{w|Equestrian sports}} - Various activities involving the use of horses.|| They might struggle to control the horse or fall/get thrown off.
----
''Randall is shown completely unable to control his horse. He is in the process of falling off and is flailing his arms.
|-
| {{w|Freestyle BMX}} - Contestants ride BMX bikes and perform various tricks, and are then judged by trick quality.|| They might crash or fail to perform tricks.
|-
| {{w|Pommel horse}} - Using a gymnastic device somewhat similar to a horse, gymnasts perform various tricks.|| They might awkwardly flop around, fall off, or lose their balance & risk crushing {{tvtropes|GroinAttack|a particularly squashy part}} of their anatomy, which could, depending on one's sense of humor, the context, & the exact aesthetics of the incident, elicit laughter.
----
''Depicted, Randall is awkwardly perched atop a pommel horse with the rather basic {{w|The_Lexicon_of_Comicana|agitrons}} surrounding him suggesting that he is wiggling some body parts but otherwise not moving much at all. However, he seems to be unaware of this, excitedly demanding that people look at what he presumably thinks is an impressive feat of athleticism.
|}

The title text may be a reference to ski jumper {{w|Vinko Bogataj}}, whose spectacular crash at a (non-Olympic) {{w|Ski_flying|ski flying}} event in 1970 in Oberstdorf, (then) West Germany became emblematic of the expression "the agony of defeat" in the opening narration of the popular US television program "{{w|Wide World of Sports (American TV program)|Wide World of Sports}}". Alternatively the reference may be to {{w|Eddie the Eagle}}, whose poor performance in the {{w|Ski_jumping|ski jump}} at the {{w|1988 Winter Olympics}} led to the introduction of a rule requiring entrants to be ranked internationally in the top 50 and top 30%.

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

:[A header is above three panels, with each panel containing a title at the top of how funny it would be, a bullet list of five sports, and one or two depictions of Cueball performing sports from that list.]
:Header: Olympic Sports ranked by how funny it would be if I, a regular person without athletic training, snuck onto the team to compete:

:[The first panel:]
:Title: Not that funny
:*Rowing
:*Fencing
:*Weightlifting
:*Golf
:*Archery
:[This panel shows Cueball putting a ball with a golf club and missing the hole from a close distance, and Cueball aiming a bow while three arrows are on the ground at various distances from the target.]

:[The second panel:]
:Title: Pretty funny
:*Swimming
:*Long jump
:*Pole vault
:*Diving
:*Hurdles
:[This panel shows Cueball running stomach-first into a hurdle, while holding an arm in front of his head. Another hurdle behind him has fallen down.]
:Cueball: [Bonk] Ow! [Bonk] Ow!

:[The third panel:]
:Title: Incredibly funny
:*Figure skating
:*Horizontal bar
:*Equestrian
:*BMX freestyle
:*Pommel horse
:[The first depiction of this panel shows Cueball balancing himself on a pommel horse as if he's riding a real horse, with both of his hands and one leg down and the other leg slightly raised.]
:Cueball: Look! Look!
:[The second depiction of this panel shows Cueball wearing black helmet and riding a horse, struggling to stay on the running horse with both hands and one leg raised.]
:Cueball: AAAAA!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Sport]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Rankings]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]

2960: Organ Meanings

2024-07-18T11:33:14Z

Mtcv: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2960
| date = July 17, 2024
| title = Organ Meanings
| image = organ_meanings_2x.png
| imagesize = 407x346px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = IMO the thymus is one of the coolest organs and we should really use it in metaphors more.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT'S PINEAL GLAND - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is a graph by [[Randall]] ranking how well he understands the function of certain human organs, compared to how much he understands {{w|metaphor}}s using them. 

One might expect understanding an organ's role and its use in metaphor to be strongly correlated, since the metaphors work by drawing a parallel to biological function. However, since our understanding of biological functions has evolved dramatically over time, and metaphorical language does not always keep up, the correspondence is often much looser.

The {{w|pineal gland}}, located in the center of the brain, was described as the “Seat of the Soul” by the dualist {{w|René Descartes}} in the 17th century. If this was what it was, the metaphors that might be derived from it would be pretty explicit. It was only in the mid-20th century that its real neuroendocrine (hormone-producing) biological role was grasped. Thus, the real meaning of the metaphor "the pineal gland of something" is uncertain, as is its actual function for the layman.

The {{w|thymus}}, highlighted in the title text, plays an important role in the immune system. It is not commonly used in metaphors,{{Citation needed}} but is perhaps ripe for use in ones describing such things as resilience, indomitability, and adaptability to changing circumstance, were more people to know what it was.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
! Organ !! Biological understanding !! Metaphor understanding !! Biological function !! Metaphor meaning
|-
| {{w|Appendix}} || 10% || 90% || ? ||
|-
| {{w|Nerves}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Spine}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Heart}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Bones}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Stomach}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Liver}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Lungs}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Spleen}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Thymus}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Kidneys}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Pineal gland}} || % || % || ||
|-
| {{w|Tongue}} || % || % || ||
|}

==Transcript==
:[A graph is shown with X and Y-axis without arrow or ticks. To the left of the Y-axis and below the X-axis there are labels with an arrow pointing up from the top of the Y-axis label and an arrow pointing right above the X-axis label, just beneath the x-axis.]
:Y-axis: How well I understand what it means when used in metaphors
:X-axis: How well I understand its actual biological function

:[On the graph is a scatter plot with 13 labels. Each label is written inside a line that goes just around the words. There are most in the top right corner, but they are spread all over the graph. Here in approximate reading order from top left with indicating of where on the graph the words are located:]
:[Top left:]
:Appendix
:[Top middle:]
:Nerves; Spine
:[Top right:]
:Heart; Bones; Stomach
:[Center left:]
:Liver; Spleen
:[Center right:]
:Lungs
:[Bottom left:]
:Thymus; Pineal gland
:[Bottom middle:]
:Kidneys
:[Bottom right:]
:Tongue

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Rankings]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Language]]