explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3011: Europa Clipper

2024-11-14T23:40:19Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 3011
| date = November 13, 2024
| title = Europa Clipper
| image = europa_clipper_2x.png
| imagesize = 333x356px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = They had BETTER make this a sample return mission.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a JOVIAN DESSERT. Please consider deleting this tag too soon, but refrain from doing so.}}

[[File:Animation of Europa Clipper trajectory around Jupiter.gif|thumb|right|The ''Europa Clipper's'' projected course around {{w|Jupiter}}, represented as the stationary green dot. In gold is Jupiter's moon {{w|Callisto (moon)|Callisto}}, in cyan is the moon {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}} — the primary target of the spacecraft's study — and in orange-red is the innermost of Jupiter's NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE four {{w|Galilean moons|"Galilean"}} moons, {{w|Io (moon)|Io}}. The spacecraft's track is shown in magenta. Jupiter's largest moon {{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}} is not shown, but its gravitational pull affects the ''Clipper's'' trajectory. A mission goal is to achieve a 6:1 {{w|orbital resonance}} with Europa [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Martin-Ozimek/publication/383115312_AAS_24-433_Europa_Clipper_Mission_Analysis_Pump_Down_Trajectory_Design/links/66bcd845311cbb094938dbd6/AAS-24-433-Europa-Clipper-Mission-Analysis-Pump-Down-Trajectory-Design.pdf by September 2034]. ]]

The ''{{w|Europa Clipper}}'' space probe was launched from the {{w|Kennedy Space Center}} in Florida on [https://europa.nasa.gov/mission/about/ October 14, 2024]. It is expected to arrive at Jupiter and begin exploration of Jupiter's moons, particularly {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}}, in April of 2030.

Europa is an icy moon. Water ice covers its surface. Around 15 to 25 kilometers (10 to 15 miles) beneath the ice, there is expected to be liquid water which may contain some [https://europa.nasa.gov/why-europa/ingredients-for-life/ basic forms of life]. To sample this liquid, its icy crust would need to be breached. The thickness of the ice dwarfs the ''Europa Clipper's'' 31 meter span.

Europa's surface of ice over liquid water can be compared to the caramelized crust on the popular dessert {{w|crème brûlée}}, perhaps because the {{w|Cassini-Huygens}} probe, after landing on Saturn's moon Titan in January of 2005, found that its surface had what was described as [https://www.sciencenews.org/article/world-unveiled-cr%C3%A8me-br%C3%BBl%C3%A9e-titan a "crème brûlée" consistency]. The hard surface of the caramel cream dessert is traditionally cracked open with a {{w|Tableware#Spoon|spoon}}, and so [[Randall]] posits that such equipment will be deployed by the ''Europa Clipper''.

In truth, no such spoon is present on the probe, and Europa's icy crust is too thick to be penetrated by a spoon of such size. Advanced measures are needed to prevent contamination of liquid water by Earth's organisms such as {{w|tardigrade}}s, {{w|deinococcus radiodurans}}, or {{w|bacillus subtilis}}. The ''Europa Clipper's'' course has been charted to avoid any contact with the surface of Europa (although it will fly through some sparse material it ejects into space) so as to prevent {{w|Planetary protection|contamination by microorganisms from Earth}}.

The successful deployment of any spacecraft's instrument is considered a cause for celebration because deployable spacecraft instruments often fail to correctly extend, unfurl or undock. The ''Clipper'' has a magnetometer that will be used at the end of a 8.5 meter boom (not apparent in the comic which, spoon extension aside, is an otherwise fairly accurate depiction) as part of its study of the moons' environment.

<div style="display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; margin: 1em 0;">
<div style="text-align: center; margin: 0 1em;">
[[File:Europa_-_Perijove_45_(cropped).png|200px|alt=Europa]]
<div>Europa</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center; margin: 0 1em;">
[[File:2014_0531_Crème_brûlée_Doi_Mae_Salong_(cropped).jpg|200px|alt=Crème brûlée]]
<div>Crème brûlée</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center; margin: 0 1em;">
[[File:Europa_Clipper_spacecraft_model.png|200px|alt=The Europa Clipper spacecraft]]
<div>The ''Europa Clipper'' spacecraft</div>
</div>
</div>

The title text expands on the joke by stating that the spacecraft "had BETTER" return samples of Europa to Earth. However, the ''Europa Clipper'' is not a {{w|sample-return mission}}.

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

:[A space probe with two rectangular solar panels, a circular dish of the front, and a very large spoon extending beneath, longer than the span of both solar panels]

:[Below the panel:]
:Good news: NASA's '''''Europa Clipper''''' is en route to Europa and has successfully deployed its crème brûlée spoon.

==Trivia==
Initially, the ''Europa Clipper'' mission was planned to include a lander component, but it was removed from the project early on. The Europa Lander proposal lags significantly behind the Clipper in development and has not secured funding. An actual sample return mission is currently far into the future of {{w|Ocean Worlds Exploration Program|the pertinent plans for exploration}}.

In {{w|Arthur C. Clarke}}'s novel ''{{w|2010: Odyssey Two}}'', the monolith aliens tell humanity ''"All these worlds are yours — except Europa. Attempt no landing there."'' Contrary to the suggestion of the comic, no landing or any other physical interaction beyond observation of the surface and analysis of the ejecta of Europa is planned.

In {{w|Greek mythology}}, {{w|Europa (consort of Zeus)|Europa}} was a {{w|Phoenician}} princess whom {{w|Zeus}}, the king of the gods, abducted after transforming himself into a bull. The name of the continent Europe may derive from this legend, though alternative theories suggest it originates from ancient Greek words meaning "wide-gazing" or "broad face." Additionally, there is an {{w|Oceanid}} named {{w|Europa (Greek myth)|Europa}}, one of the many daughters of the {{w|Titans}}, {{w|Oceanus}} and {{w|Tethys}}. The name Europa is also used in other mythological contexts. Jupiter's moon Europa was named after the Phoenician princess, following the tradition of naming Jovian moons after Zeus's lovers.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Food]]

2989: Physics Lab Thermostat

2024-11-14T23:39:47Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 2989
| date = September 23, 2024
| title = Physics Lab Thermostat
| image = physics_lab_thermostat_2x.png
| imagesize = 264x296px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hopefully the HVAC people set it to only affect the AIR in the room.
}}

==Explanation== NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE
This comic is about a {{w|thermostat}} in a physics lab which, instead of controlling the air temperature, adjusts the {{w|Boltzmann constant}} in the immediate area, a value relating temperature to energy equal to 1.38×10−23 J/K, where J is {{w|joule}}s, a unit of energy, and K is {{w|kelvin}}, a unit of temperature. The dial shows different values for the constant, implying that it can be changed, which would be disturbing as a lot of what our current understanding of physics assumes it can't be. Thankfully, in reality there is no way to change the Boltzmann constant, so the comic is making fun of the idea of a scientist casually adjusting a fixed law of physics as if it were something simple like room temperature.

If the Boltzmann constant could be changed, it would affect how we experience temperature. The energy range on the dial relative to the actual Boltzmann constant might correspond to (or feel like?) apparent temperatures of 15°C (59°F) on the left, to 29°C (84°F) on the right, because raising the value of the constant would decrease the apparent temperature. There have previously been control panels for properties of the universe in [[1620: Christmas Settings]] and [[1763: Catcalling]]. A thermometer including units compatible with this thermostat (after dividing by 2/3) is shown in [[2292: Thermometer]].

The title text builds on the absurdity of being able to adjust the Boltzmann constant. It suggests that if the constant could be changed, hopefully it would only affect the air in the room and not other substances. In particular, the metabolism of the room's occupants is hopefully unaffected. Imagining that this strange version of an HVAC ({{w|heating, ventilation, and air conditioning}}) system could contain such a change to ''just'' the room's air shows the ridiculousness of trying to isolate the effects of altering a universal constant.

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

:[A black circular dial is shown with a white indicator line at the upper right. The label above the dial, enclosed in a rectangular box, says:]
:Local Boltzmann Constant
:[The two extremes of the dial are labeled as follows, the first value on the left and the second value on the right:]
:1.418×10-23 J/K
:1.351×10-23 J/K
:[The indicator line is pointing to a position on the dial somewhere around 1.375×10-23 J/K (between the 12th and 13th large ticks clockwise out of 19 total).]
:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics Lab Thermostat

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Physics]]

2990: Late Cenozoic

2024-11-14T23:39:41Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 2990
| date = September 25, 2024
| title = Late Cenozoic
| image = late_cenozoic_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x396px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our nucleic acid recovery techinques found a great deal of homo sapiens DNA incorporated into the fossils, particularly the ones containing high levels of resin, leading to the theory that these dinosaurs preyed on the once-dominant primates.
}}

==Explanation==
A major part of understanding how life-forms existed and operated in the past involves finding fossilized remains, and working out a timeline of when they lived, based on the sediment layers in which they were found (among other factors). Modern paleontology has resulted in many of these fossilized remains being dug up and assembled into complete skeletons, which are frequently put on display in museums and other facilities.

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This comic posits a future in which the remains of current civilization become buried in sediment, likely as a result of humanity going extinct so as to allow the premise of this comic to occur. Modern science estimates nearly all human-made activity - glass, concrete, steel - would erase to nothing within at most 1000 years (see ''Life After People'' and ''The World Without Us''), meaning that any future life-forms, extraterrestrial or evolved modern-day species, would be hard pressed to find anything that suggested this planet used to be inhabited by humans, save for some microplastics, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fADp43wJwU| nuclear waste] and - in this scenario - preserved dinosaur bones, apparently.

While a question may arise as to why exactly no dinosaur fossils can be found in the intervening ~66 million years (which we know is because they went extinct and later ones were actually dug up by a different species), the real-life fossil record is quite sporadic, meaning such gaps should not be seen as unusual (these gaps are termed {{w|Lazarus taxon}}s).

The title of the strip refers to the {{w|Cenozoic}} era, which is the current geological era. The term "late Cenozoic" implies some geological change would occur significant enough to warrant designating a new era ; either these changes led to the end of human civilization or are in fact spurred by them.

The title text says that a high amount of resin and human DNA found in these fossils led to them theorizing dinosaurs ate humans. When reconstructing fossils, resin is often used to recreate missing or incomplete bones amongst other purposes in assembling and displaying a "complete" skeleton. Since this resin is made and mixed by humans,{{fact}} incidental human DNA sources (such as cast off skin cells and hair) almost certainly get mixed in, leading to this misconception.

A similar museum, misunderstood by humans instead of this other species, is depicted in [[2760: Paleontology Museum]].

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

:[Three squid-like aliens in a classroom; one alien stands in front of a board covered with minute text and a drawing of a T-Rex skeleton. Two aliens sit on stools watching the teacher alien. The teacher alien on the left is on a raised platform and points at the board with one tentacle.]
:Left alien: Species such as triceratops and tyrannosaurus became more rare after the Cretaceous, but they survived to flourish in the late Cenozoic, 66 million years later.
:Left alien: Many complete skeletons have been discovered from this era.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:It's going to be really funny when our museums get buried in sediment.

==Trivia==
The title text has a typo: "techinques" should be "techniques".

The future beings are presumably ones that took over the far future of the Earth long after the extinction of humans. They are possibly descendents of one or other of the {{w|cephalopod}}s, species widely noted for their intelligence even today, but also bear a passing resemblence to the 'contemporary' [[2572: Alien Observers|alien life-forms]] that [[Randall]] uses for comics set in the current era.

Their relationship with his other [[1747: Spider Paleontology|beings from the future]], seen occasionally, is uncertain. That other form may merely be an 'avatar' presence, made necessary by the time-travel (or visitation) method in use, or else a representative from a [[1450: AI-Box Experiment|predominantly non-biological]] era of the future. 

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Aliens]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Geology]]

2991: Beamsplitters

2024-11-14T23:39:32Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 2991
| date = September 27, 2024
| title = Beamsplitters
| image = beamsplitters_2x.png
| imagesize = 479x385px
| noexpand = true NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE
| titletext = Under quantum tax law, photons sent through a beamsplitter don't actually choose which path they took, or incur a tax burden, until their wavefunction collapses when the power is sold.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|beamsplitter}} is a device, usually made from a pair of prisms or a half-silvered mirror, that splits a beam of light into two beams going in different directions. Beamsplitters are used in numerous scientific instruments such as microscopes and (here) telescopes. In a microscope, for example, a beamsplitter may be used to direct the imaging beam to the user's eyes, or to a recording device such as a camera, or to both at once so as to allow visual aiming at specific targets at the same time as conducting scientific measurements upon them. Beam-splitting in order to simultaneously analyse a single 'ray' of light with two or more different types of detectors is also scientifically useful.

In this comic, a beamsplitter is being used in a large-scale telescope to "steal" part of the incident light beam and direct it to a {{w|Solar cell|photovoltaic cell}}. The power generated is then sold on the local grid. The scientists could be {{w|Embezzlement|pocketing the proceeds}}, or possibly using them to help pay the telescope operation's bills. This could be dark humor, implying that surreptitious and legally/ethically questionable strategies are needed to fund scientists and their projects. The comic pushes the point by supposing that the practice had become so commonplace that the {{w|International Astronomical Union}} (IAU) got wind of it, and has acted to ban it.

Most optical instruments, even large telescopes, are unlikely to capture enough light during regular operations to make the "banned" strategy feasible. (Far more light would reach the solar cell if it was simply left outdoors, even on a cloudy day.) Moreover, the ban is ham-fisted, as it makes legitimate scientific operation of telescopes profoundly more difficult. For the sake of the joke, both of these issues are ignored.

The telescope shown, without the beam splitter, is a reflecting telescope of the general form of a {{w|Gregorian telescope}}, or a derivative, while the sending of (a fraction of) the light out the side is implemented in the manner of a {{w|Nasmyth telescope}}.

The title text humorously conflates financial tax laws, applicable to the sale of the {{w|Abstracting electricity|"stolen" electricity}}, with the laws of quantum physics, governing the behavior of the photons that are generating the electricity. Under typical {{w|Capital_gain|capital gains}} tax laws, certain intangible assets such as stocks are not taxed until they are sold, at which point taxes will be levied on the profits of the sale (relative to the asset's purchase price). This is typically done to simplify tax assessment, as it can be very difficult to assign a concrete value (and thus tax burden) to certain assets until they are sold and the value realized.

The title text imagines a fictional "quantum tax law" in which individual photons are treated as taxable assets. Due to the probabilistic nature of the photon's {{w|Wave_function|wave function}}, the monetary value of any given photon entering the telescope is uncertain up until the point where it strikes the photovoltaic cell, generating an electron which is sold to the power grid. Under the quantum tax law, the "wavefunction" of the photon refers not to its traditional quantum {{w|Wave_function|wave function}}, but to the monetary wavefunction which can only be observed once the photon has generated a tangible profit. This is likely an analogy with {{w|capital gains tax}} which does not accrue until assets are sold at a profit over their purchase price.

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

:[Cross section of a telescope with some parts of the image darkened to represent the path of light, with portions where the light would be more concentrated being darker]

:[Labels with arrows as they appear left to right, top to bottom:]
:Incoming Light
:Primary Mirror
:Secondary Mirror
:Beamsplitter
:Sensor
:Secret Solar Panel
:Power Sold To Grid

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Astronomy News: The International Astronomical Union has finally banned beamsplitters, optical devices used by scientists to embezzle light from their instruments.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Telescopes]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2992: UK Coal

2024-11-14T23:39:19Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{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 NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE 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]]

2993: Ingredients

2024-11-14T23:39:12Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 2993
| date = October 2, 2024
| title = Ingredients
| image = ingredients_2x.png
| imagesize = 417x473px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Add main-belt asteroids to taste.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE FIVE BEST EXPLAINXKCD USERS COMBINED INTO ONE - Compare the combined surface area to that of Mars (also check both the actual surface area of the five as well as the surface area of a sphere with the total moons volume, which would be a much smaller surface area than of the five moons sum of surface area... Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic jokes that it is possible, and perhaps intended, to use the five largest moons in the outer solar system (the {{w|Galilean moons}} and {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}) as ingredients NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE to create a “better” planet that has the “coolest” features. Apparently, though, Randall couldn't actually think of anything cool that {{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}} and {{w|Callisto (moon)|Callisto}} would contribute, so these have just been used as 'filler'. (However, Ganymede does have a magnetic field, which is kind of cool....)

Note that {{w|Moon|Earth's moon}} is the fifth-largest moon of the solar system overall ({{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}} is the sixth), so it would have been included had "outer solar system" not been specified.

{| class="wikitable"
!Name of moon
!Ingredient
!Volume (billion km3)
!Surface area (million km2)
!Mass (sextillion kg)
!Explanation
|-
| {{w|Io (moon)|Io}} || sulfur || style="text-align:center;"|25.3 || style="text-align:center;"|41.7 || style="text-align:center;"|89.4 || Io is composed of hundreds of active volcanoes which produce plumes of sulfur and sulfur dioxide.
|-
| {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}} || oceans || style="text-align:center;"|15.9 || style="text-align:center;"|30.9 || style="text-align:center;"|48.0 || Europa is believed to have a subsurface ocean of liquid water below its icy crust.
|-
| {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}} || hydrocarbons || style="text-align:center;"|71.6 || style="text-align:center;"|83.3 || style="text-align:center;"|134.5 || Titan has a dense atmosphere of nitrogen, methane and other minor components, leading to the formation of hydrocarbon clouds and heavy organonitrogen haze.
|-
| {{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}} || rowspan="2"|filler || style="text-align:center;"|76.6 || style="text-align:center;"|87.2 || style="text-align:center;"|148.2 || rowspan="2"|Randall considers Ganymede and Callisto to have no special features and uses them merely as “filler” for the combined planet.
|-
| {{w|Callisto (moon)|Callisto}} || style="text-align:center;"|58.7 || style="text-align:center;"|73.0 || style="text-align:center;"|107.6
|-
|}

If all of these moons were lumped together, the total volume of “Randall's planet” would be 248 billion km3, assuming no further material compaction, with a surface area of 191 million km2. This is about 1½ times the volume of {{w|Mars}}, or roughly a 15% larger diameter. The combined mass, however, would be smaller than that of Mars.

The title text takes it further, treating asteroids as a [[1639: To Taste|“to-taste”]] ingredient in this “recipe”, more like preparing a food dish rather than making a new Mars-sized planet.

There are a number of science fiction works that posit that advanced alien civilizations left puzzles in the solar system for future humans to solve. Examples for this trope are {{w|Pushing Ice}} by Alastair Reynolds and {{w|Rogue Moon}} by Algis Budrys. The Arthur C. Clarke stories {{w|The Sentinel (short story)|The Sentinel}} and {{w|Encounter in the Dawn}} (and the more well-known ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (novel)|book}} and {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey|film}} treatments that they later helped inspire) each feature various partial treatments of this concept. Caltech Professor David Goodstein also speculated in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNHd__ed40M&t=1594s The Mechanical Universe] the possibility that {{w|Saturn}} is an alien message system.

==Transcript==
:[A planet is shown with several different features like oceans and large lakes as well as and craters. It seems like the continent is fused together from five different segments, with cracks between where there is either ocean or rivers. There are four labels above the planet with lines going down to different areas of the planet, but not necessarily pointing to any particular part on the surface, but rather to the entire planet:]
:Sulfur chemistry from Io
:Cool oceans from Europa
:Hydrocarbons from Titan
:Ganymede and Callisto (filler)

:[Caption beneath the panel:]
:Scientists now think the five biggest outer solar system moons are actually just ingredients; we're supposed to combine them to create a single Mars-sized planet that's cooler than any of them.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Food]]

2994: Númenor Margaritaville

2024-11-14T23:39:07Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 2994
| date = October 4, 2024
| title = Númenor Margaritaville
| image = numenor_margaritaville_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x553px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I see white shores, and beyond it, a far green country under a tequila sunrise.
}}

==Explanation==

Cueball is conflating {{w|J.R.R. Tolkien}}'s fictional island NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE"[https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/N%C3%BAmenor Númenor]" with the beach resort in {{w|Jimmy Buffett}}'s "{{w|Margaritaville}}". The Elf who is telling him about Númenor, and Aragorn's link to it, becomes progressively more upset, and for cause.

Aragorn, more precisely [https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Aragorn_II Aragorn II], is the principal Mannish protagonist of Tolkien's {{w|The_Lord_of_the_Rings|The Lord of the Rings}}. He is crowned High King of Gondor and Arnor at the end of the saga. He is descended from [https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Elros Elros Tar-Minyatur], first king of Númenor and brother of {{w|Elrond}}.

"I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead" is a line from Buffett's song "Growing Older But Not Up", from his 1981 album ''{{w|Coconut Telegraph}}''. [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Ar-Pharaz%C3%B4n Ar-Pharazôn], the twenty-fifth, and last, king of Númenor, sought to conquer the {{w|Valinor|Undying Lands}}, resolving to win eternal life, or die in the attempt. He was therefore responsible for the destruction of Númenor, the removal of the Undying Lands from {{w|Cosmology_of_Tolkien%27s_legendarium#Arda|Arda}}, and the transformation of Arda into a sphere.

"If there's a heaven for me, I'm sure it has a beach attached" is a quote from the chapter "A Caribbean Soul" of Buffett's autobiography ''{{w|A Pirate Looks at Fifty}}''. [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Tol_Eress%C3%ABa Tol Eressëa] is an island off the coast of Aman, the continent on which the Valar (divine angelic spirits) live. Aman is thought to have been inspired by the concept of a [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Aman#Inspiration paradise out of time].

Cueball's last line alludes to a statement made by Galadriel in ''{{w|The Fellowship of the Ring}}'', in the chapter "The Mirror of Galadriel": "I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel." Cueball's altered version of the statement refers to {{w|Key West, Florida}}, a city closely associated with Buffett, where he lived for many years, recorded albums, and established the first restaurant in his {{w|Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville|Margaritaville chain}}.

The title text alludes to a line from Book VI, Chapter 9: The Grey Havens in ''{{w|The Return of the King}}''. "And then it seemed to him {{w|Frodo_Baggins|[Frodo]}} that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise." The modified line makes a reference to the {{w|Tequila sunrise}} cocktail - and, perhaps, to the {{w|Tequila_Sunrise_(Eagles_song)|song by the Eagles}}, which is thematically similar to "Margaritaville".

Tolkien's legendarium is [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:LOTR frequently alluded to] in xkcd.

==Transcript==
:[An Elf woman with a decorated headband around her long blonde hair and wearing a long dress is walking and talking with Cueball who walks ahead of her looking back at her over his shoulder.]
:Elf: Aragorn was king of Gondor, but we Elves remember when his line ruled Númenor.
:Cueball: Oh, the place from the Jimmy Buffett songs?

:[Closeup on Cueball who has stopped and turned towards the now off-panel Elf. The Elf's reaction is coming from a star burst in the top left corner of the panel.]
:Elf [off-panel]: What.
:Cueball: The semi-mythical seafaring Atlantic paradise? He sang about it. With the fancy cocktails?

:[Zoom back out showing that the Elf and Cueball are now standing facing each other.]
:Elf: ...You mean Margaritaville?
:Cueball: Yeah, that must be the modern name.

:[Another closeup on Cueball with the Elf speaking off-panel as before.]
:Elf [off-panel]: Númenor is not Margaritaville.
:Cueball: "I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead," sang Ar-Pharazôn, king of island life.

:[Zoom back out to see the Elf is now facepalming while Cueball continues.]
:Elf: Please stop.
:Cueball: "If there's a heaven for me, I'm sure it has a beach attached" is about the shores of Tol Eressëa.

:[The Elf is walking away from Cueball who raises his finger in the air.]
:Elf: See, this is why I'm leaving the world of Men.
:Cueball: You shall diminish, and go into Key West.

==Trivia==

In the image of the comic [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/f/f7/20241006145447%21numenor_margaritaville_2x.png as first published], Númenor was styled "Numenor", and Ar-Pharazôn was given as "Tar-Pharazôn". Cueball had mistakenly appended the Elvish ({{w|Quenya}}) royal title Tar to the Mannish ({{w|Adûnaic}}) regnal name Pharazôn; the king did have a Quenya name, Tar-Calion, but he didn't use it, following the precedent established by most of the Kings of Númenor and signaling the increasing estrangement of the Men of the West (apart from the Elf Friends) from the Elves. The errors were corrected two days after publication.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Food]]

2995: University Commas

2024-11-14T23:38:59Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 2995
| date = October 7, 2024
| title = University Commas
| image = university_commas_2x.png
| imagesize = 580x273px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The distinctive 'UCLA comma' and 'Michigan comma' are a long string of commas at the start and end of the sentence respectively.
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|Created by a SERIAL COMMA - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. This explanation needs some tidying up.}}

The use of commas in the English language is {{w|Comma#Uses in English|famously disputed}}, most relevantly among publishers and academics. This comic imagines that all possible NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE (and some improbable) comma positions in an example sentence are associated with different universities. This applies to commas which should ''always'' be present in a list, optional commas (regardless of whether they have anything to do with a list, such as after the word "please") and blatantly erroneous commas (which should ''never'' be present in a sentence, e.g. immediately prior to the {{w|full stop}}/period).

The Oxford comma (a.k.a. {{w|serial comma}} or, despite how this comic represents it, the ''actual'' Harvard comma) is a comma between the penultimate item in a list and its conjunction (typically ''and'' or ''or''), to echo all the commas (at least one) that act as {{w|Comma#List separator and the serial (Oxford) comma|placeholders for the conjunction}} in-between all prior members of the list. For instance, you might write "red, white, and blue" (with the Oxford comma) or "red, white and blue" (without it). Some style guides, such as ''{{w|The Oxford Style Manual}}'' published by {{w|Oxford University Press}}, (unsurprisingly) recommend using it, while other similarly authoritative guides recommend against it. Though even those with either recommendation may suggest its (non-)use in situations where this avoids an ambiguity arising from the normally recommended choice.

One {{w|Serial comma#Ambiguity|common example}} showing the need for an Oxford comma is "To my parents, Ayn Rand''',''' and God". Without the comma (as in: "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God"), it may read that the author's parents are Ayn Rand and God. If such confusion is to be avoided, reordering the list is a common way to avoid ambiguity, for example, "To Ayn Rand, God and my parents" is one such reordering. However, the use of an Oxford comma in this version might imply the deification of Ayn Rand. Conversely, if the sentence was instead to be "To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God", with such a comma, there arises the possibility of an assertion that one's mother is Ayn Rand, whereas "To my mother, Ayn Rand and God" does not let one fall into that trap.

{{w|Macaroni and cheese}} (often shortened to "Mac and cheese" in the US and Canada) should be considered a single item in a list like this. When just two items are joined together, e.g. to name a compound food such as "peanut butter and jelly", "fish and chips" or "steak and eggs", a comma isn't placed before "and". It is in the use of such compounded items, as a singular list item, where some confusion can arise. Alternate forms ("fish'n'chips", "salt-and-pepper", "PB&J") can put emphasis upon the low-level linking of the components, the outer list can be rewritten (e.g. with semicolon separation) or the reader can be left to logically assume where such a commonly encountered pairing is not part of the wider list. A difference in conjunction can also help to clarify, as in "A good choice of breakfast is ham and eggs, sausage and eggs or sausage and beans, but not ham and beans", which is ''unlikely'' to be accidentally misunderstood (including as options such as "sausage + (eggs or additional sausage) + beans" or "sausage + ('non-ham' beans) + further beans").

In the most common interpretation the example sentence reads (with proper punctuation and bracketed Oxford comma): "Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread."

However, most of the commas are possible punctuation marks in a specific pragmatic reading of the sentence:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
! Comma name !! Notation !! Explanation
|-
| Harvard comma || Please, buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || Emphatic plea, marked by a sub-clause separator. (Note that "Harvard comma" is already a common synonym for the Oxford comma, in its context.)
{{w|Harvard University}} is one of eight {{w|Ivy League}} universities in the United States.
|-
| Yale comma || Please buy, apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || A merchant's plea to their customer, marked by a sub-clause separator. This makes the sentence a sentence fragment but this is not uncommon in speech. One use of a comma is to indicate a grammatical aside in speech and (optionally) a return from that pause — as it would here — though more formal writing would typically used a more specific punctuation mark, such as a colon. The implication may be that the list of items are those for sale or that there is a promotion around those items specifically.
{{w|Yale University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States.
|-
| Stanford comma || Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || Mandatory separator in a list.
{{w|Stanford University}} is one of the prominent universities in the United States. It is located in Silicon Valley, a short distance from the headquarters of {{w|Apple Inc.}} The Stanford comma between "apples" and "mac" is probably necessary there to distinguish discussions of the food products from discussion of the computer products.
|-
| Columbia comma || Please buy apples, mac, and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || A plea to buy apples, cheese, milk and bread, directed at a person called Mac, whose name is stylized as "mac".

Alternatively, a plea to buy apples, a raincoat, cheese, milk[,] and bread. The first 'and' would then be superfluous, but this could reflect the speaker adding the last two items in the moment to an initial request for the first three.

{{w|Columbia University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States.
|-
| Cambridge comma || (Please buy apples, mac, and, cheese being unavailable, milk[,] and bread.) || Valid with a qualifying sub-clause; invalid in the example sentence. Also requires "mac" to be an item of its own, not a part of "mac and cheese".
The {{w|University of Cambridge}} is one of the two eponymous {{w|Oxbridge}} universities in the United Kingdom. Not to be confused with {{w|Cambridge, Massachusetts#Higher education|other establishments}} in (or originally in) Cambridge, Massachusetts.
|-
| Cornell comma || Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || Mandatory separator in a list.
{{w|Cornell University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States. It has {{w|Cornell Dairy|its own dairy farm}}, which is why the Cornell comma is placed between dairy products, "cheese" and "milk".
|-
| Oxford comma || Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk, and bread. || The {{w|Oxford comma}}, as discussed above, is a comma often used in lists (with more than two elements) to further separate the last two elements and thus attempt to avoid ambiguity. In this case, it is unlikely that there would be confusion as to how to interpret the given list, with or without this comma.
The {{w|University of Oxford}} is the other eponymous Oxbridge university in the United Kingdom. Not to be confused with {{w|Oxford Brookes University}}, or universities in {{w|Oxford_(disambiguation)#Places|any other Oxford}}.
|-
| Princeton comma || (Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and, bread being out of stock, oats.) || Valid with a qualifying sub-clause; invalid in the example sentence.
{{w|Princeton University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States.
|-
| MIT comma || (Please, buy, apples, mac, and, cheese, milk, and, bread, thank you.) || Possible reference to [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11597901/why-are-trailing-commas-allowed-in-a-list trailing commas sometimes used in programming], which would be associated with a university highly specialized in technology. If each of these words were identifiers, then including all commas would be a valid way to express a list in some languages (though using a period to indicate the end of a list is uncommon). Specifically, MIT is home to the Rust programming language, which uses trailing commas for the last item of a list as a matter of programming style. In some programming languages trailing commas are allowed since a comma denotes a list and a trailing comma is a way to create a Single-Element list.
The {{w|Massachusetts Institute of Technology}} is one of the prominent universities in the United States.{{citation needed}}
|-
| UCLA comma(s) || (,,,…,,,Please buy apples, mac, and, cheese, milk[,] and bread.) || rowspan="2" | '''Title text proposal''', the two establishments being responsible for each set of commas, perhaps in collaboration. Can perhaps relate to rather specific quotation or quote-separation contexts not in common use. Also strangely looks like German quote marks (two commas at the beginning of the quote and two apostrophes at the end) and their LaTeX representation if you are using the babel package.
The {{w|University of California, Los Angeles}} and the {{w|University of Michigan}} are two more well known universities in the United States.{{citation needed}}
|-
| Michigan comma(s) || (Please buy apples, mac, and, cheese, milk[,] and bread.,,,…,,,)
|}

Depending upon who you talk to, the two establishments referenced by the title text may not be considered quite as prominent or outstanding as the Ivy League universities, or others mentioned here, hence their relegation to title text punchline. But (actual Ivy Leaguers) {{w|Brown University}}, {{w|Dartmouth College}} and the {{w|University of Pennsylvania}} were not referenced at all, for one reason or another; for example, the very idea of a "Brown comma" might more readily resonate with the concept of the {{w|Brown note}}.

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

:[A sentence is written in greyed-out text, with the commas in black and each labeled with an arrow.]
:Please''',''' buy''',''' apples''',''' mac''',''' and''',''' cheese''',''' milk''',''' and''',''' bread''','''.

:[The labels are as follows, in order from left to right:]
:Harvard comma
:Yale comma
:Stanford comma
:Columbia comma
:Cambridge comma
:Cornell comma
:Oxford comma
:Princeton comma
:MIT comma

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The Oxford one is the most famous, but many major universities have their own comma.

==Trivia==
[[Randall]] appears to be a fairly regular user of the Serial/Oxford Comma himself, with the most recent example being in the title text of [[2985: Craters]]. This is clearly out of habit or preference, as it is not required for clarification purposes. Yet it seems he also appreciates the conflicting viewpoints inherent to such a style opinion. He later completely avoided the use of list-commas in a (three-part) list within the comic text of the successive [[2986: Every Scientific Field]], possibly for rhetorical reasons.

This very wiki currently reminds anyone editing a page that their contributions "may be edited, altered, or removed", which is also not a syntactical necessity beyond adherence to the Oxford styling. Later, in the same paragraph of text, it also uses structure of "…, or … or …", but for different grammatical reasons that are unrelated to serial/list commas.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Food]]

2996: CIDABM

2024-11-14T23:38:53Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 2996
| date = October 9, 2024
| title = CIDABM
| image = cidabm_2x.png
| imagesize = 423x480px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = There's a heated debate over whether the big island of Tierra del Fuego should qualify for membership.
}}

==Explanation==

The comic parodies intergovernmental cooperations, such as the {{w|G7}} "group of seven" (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) or the {{w|BRICS}} group (originally '''B'''razil, '''R'''ussia, '''I'''ndia and '''C'''hina, with '''S'''outh Africa soon after rounding off the acronym before further nations attained membership). Such treaties, and other more casual associations between nations, can be based upon some close association in geographical, political, cultural and/or economic terms (or even, in some cases, by little more than sharing a common opposition to a ''different'' {{w|Trade bloc|bloc}} of nations).

The "CIDABM" group, named for the very specific membership criteria NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE, has been formed on a rather more abstract basis than most geographically-focused groupings (e.g. {{w|NATO}} or the {{w|Pacific Islands Forum}}) and (currently) consists of four otherwise disparate islands:
*{{w|Sicily}} is an autonomous region of {{w|Italy}}, which is on the south eastern edge of the {{w|Eurasia}}n mainland.
*{{w|Sri Lanka}} is a nation in its own right, south of {{w|India}}, which is on the southern edge of the Eurasian mainland.
*{{w|Hainan}} is a province of {{w|China}}, which is on the south eastern edge of the Eurasian mainland.
*{{w|Tasmania}} is a state of the nation of {{w|Australia}}, south of the eastern side of {{w|Australia (continent)|continental Australia}} mainland.

These four islands 'dangle below' their mainlands only because of the convention of having north at the top of maps. If the mapmaking convention had instead been to have south at the top, the islands might have been described as floating above their continents. Conversely, {{w|Madagascar}}, {{w|Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland}} or {{w|Adelaide Island}} might have been applicable members of similar 'dangling' alliances where the basic premise might come from one or other different map orientations.

The big island of Tierra del Fuego ({{w|Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego}}), mentioned in the title text, is off the southern tip of the {{w|Chile}}an mainland (as well as a small bit of {{w|Argentina}}). Unlike the others in the comic, it doesn't prominently 'dangle' south of a mainland: it has narrow channels separating its northern and northwestern sides from the mainland, and other parts of the {{w|Tierra del Fuego}} archipelago surround its southwestern side and make it appear well-connected to the mainland. In addition, it isn't a single political entity: the island is split between Chile to the west and Argentina to the east. The 'heated debate' mentioned in the title text may be a play on ''Tierra del Fuego'' being Spanish for ''Land of Fire''.

While the banner on stage depicts each of the islands with approximately the same size, Tasmania (68,400 km²) and Sri Lanka (65,600 km²) are much larger than Hainan (35,200 km²) and Sicily (25,800 km²). Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego is in the middle sizewise (48,000 km²).

Here is a list of island that clearly do not belong to this club:
*{{w|Corsica}} (8,700 km², south of France's mainland) but clearly not dangling beneath the tip of a land mass like Sicily but on the side of Italy.
*{{w|Cyprus}} (9,300 km², south of Turkey) but also to the west of Syria thus not dangling beneath a land mass.
*{{w|Kyushu}} (36,800 km²) and {{w|Shikoku}} (18,800 km²) that are very close and south of the Japanese mainland of Honshu but this is an island state so island beneath island kind of makes no sense here.
*The same problem with {{w|Stewart Island}}/Rakiura (1,746 km²), which dangles south of the South Island of New Zealand again an island state so island beneath island kind of makes no sense here.
*The {{w|Isle of Wight}} (merely 380 km²) is not really beneath the UK as part of the mainland goes more to the south and again an island state so island beneath island kind of makes no sense here.
*{{w|Gotland}} (3,200 km²) and {{w|Long Island}} (3,600 km²) are even smaller and, like {{w|Taiwan}} (36,200 km²), are not even close to being south of their respective mainlands.
*{{w|Cuba}} (105,800 km²) which "dangles" south of Florida seems to also not quite fit the theme as it is much larger and longer than the part that is "dangles" beneath and thus would not be considered dangling from Florida, rather supporting Florida.
*{{w|Sumatra}} (482,300 km²), is not dangling south of the Malay peninsula as it goes much higher up and is also much larger than the part of the mainland it should dangle beneath so makes no sense to look as it as dangling.

==Transcript==
:[A banner hangs at the top of the frame with a large acronym written above four map segments. The map segments show a landmass in grey with an island at the bottom drawn in black. Beneath the banner are four people. Hairbun and Cueball to the left are shaking hands while looking at each other, Megan is looking towards the unseen crows arms spread out and Hairy to the right is waving with one arm.]
:Banner: C.I.D.A.B.M.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Geopolitical news: Sicily, Sri Lanka, Hainan, and Tasmania have joined together to form the Coalition of Islands that Dangle Awkwardly from the Bottom of a Mainland.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Maps]]

2997: Solar Protons

2024-11-14T23:38:34Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 2997
| date = October 11, 2024
| title = Solar Protons
| image = solar_protons_2x.png
| imagesize = 647x783px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If any of you want to meet some cool local oxygen atoms, I can introduce you!
}}

==Explanation==

This comic is referencing the solar storm that hit the Earth on Thursday night before the comic. A result of the storm was that {{w|northern lights}} were visible across much of the northern United States, including Massachusetts where [[Randall]] lives. The northern lights normally occur much farther north, making this a rare and spectacular occurrence. The rare color background of this panel is an illustration of the northern lights.

The solar protons referenced are hydrogen nuclei ejected NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE from the Sun. Since most hydrogen atoms are just a single proton and electron pair, once the electron is removed, the resulting ion is just a proton. These protons, being positively charged, interact with Earth's magnetosphere, and the resulting excitation of atoms in the atmosphere causes them to emit light in the form of aurora. In the northern hemisphere the aurora is called aurora borealis (Latin for "northern dawn") and in the southern hemisphere it is called aurora australis (Latin for "southern dawn").

Note, however, that - contrary to some common misconceptions - auroras are only created indirectly due to the impact of solar particles, and only a small fraction of all auroras are triggered by solar protons from coronal mass ejections. [https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/aurora-tutorial Most auroras are caused by electrons, and these electrons are mostly already trapped over the long term in Earth's magnetosphere] (although many of them originated in the solar wind at some point). The interaction of the solar wind's magnetic field with Earth's magnetosphere can create strong electric fields parallel to the magnetic field lines near the poles, and these electric fields energize the electrons and accelerate them into the atmosphere, where their interactions with oxygen and nitrogen molecules create the emission lines of the aurora. The comic merely implies that there must be solar protons arriving on Earth when there are such impressive northern lights in Beret Guy's home town, which seems likely.{{Citation needed}}

Here, [[Beret Guy]] takes on the task of giving the protons a cordial welcome to Earth, where they will spend the foreseeable future. He has set up a sign to welcome them, presumably because he is happy to see the northern lights. His sign claims that they will love being part of the atmosphere, presumably because the protons are interacting with other atoms in the atmosphere if aurora lights are emitted. The sign also invites them to try creating water. Water consists of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms sharing an electron each with the oxygen. Since the solar protons are just hydrogen nuclei, they can form water by interacting with oxygen atoms or hydroxide ions (OH-). Scientists believe that solar wind [https://physicsworld.com/a/did-the-solar-wind-create-earths-water/ frequently creates water] by interaction of the hydrogen nuclei with oxygen. However, the mechanism proposed involves solar wind first creating hydroxide from compounds in asteroids and space dust, and then another proton joining to make water. As most of the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere consists of O2 molecules (two bound oxygen atoms), it is not clear if solar protons could create water in the atmosphere at the same time as the northern lights, as opposed to via various other intermediate atmospheric/geological/biological interactions which might take up hydrogen (ionised or otherwise).

The title text references water formation by saying that Beret Guy can introduce the solar protons/hydrogen nuclei to cool oxygen atoms. In reality hydrogen nuclei from the solar wind do not need an introduction,{{Citation needed}} but instead, due to their great speed, form bonds with oxygen when they impact oxygen or hydroxide.

==Transcript==
:[A large mainly black panel is filled with colorful aurora that streaks upwards from the central part of the panel. The aurora if mainly red, orange and yellow light in the streaks that goes to the top of the panel and green in the broad band at the bottom part of the aurora. The band starts lower tot he left and moves higher towards the right. Behind the aurora is a starry night sky. Beret Guy is drawn as a black silhouette just left of the center beneath the aurora which he is looking up at. He is standing on a grassy field, next to a sign to his right. The sign is black with text in a light-greenish font:]
:Welcome Solar Protons!
:You'll love being part of our atmosphere!
:There's so much to do here. Try forming water!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

2998: Ravioli-Shaped Objects

2024-11-14T23:38:13Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 2998
| date = October 14, 2024
| title = Ravioli-Shaped Objects
| image = ravioli_shaped_objects_2x.png
| imagesize = 608x569px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's a real accomplishment to mess up a ravioli recipe badly enough that the resulting incident touches all four quadrants of the NFPA hazard diamond.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Ravioli}} are a kind of stuffed {{w|pasta}} comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough, commonly square shaped, and serving as the object of this comic's table, which can be seen as a kind of {{w|confusion matrix}}. This comic compares four ravioli-shaped objects (square shaped objects with bulging cross-sections due to their filling) with some common actions associated with them. See the [[#Table of ravioli objects|table]] below.

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE

The title text refers to the {{w|NFPA 704}} diagram for hazardous materials, a diamond figure put out by the {{w|National Fire Protection Association}} showing four kinds of fire hazards. A {{wiktionary|raviolo}} that touched all four quadrants would be a health hazard, fire hazard, and demonstrate (chemical) reactivity, and have some other miscellaneous hazard(s). The NFPA diamond was previously mentioned in [[2638: Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond]].

===Table of ravioli objects===
{| class="wikitable" | style="background:#E6C3C3;"
! Ravioli-Shaped Objects
! scope="col"| Eat with a fork
! scope="col"| Rest your head on
! scope="col"| Puncture and slurp
! scope="col"| Install in your phone
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Ravioli}}
| style="background:#C5E6C3;"|Ravioli pasta would indeed be suitable to be eaten with a fork, as shown.
|Ravioli pasta is not structurally strong enough to support the weight of a human head while reclining, and would break and spill its filling over one's head and the object one is resting on. It may also be covered in sauce, adding to the general mess.
|style="background:#FBF8CE;"|If the ravioli filling is fluid enough, one could slurp it out with a straw. This would waste the pasta component, if it were not eaten afterwards.
|Phones are not meant to run on ravioli. Stuffing a phone with a raviolo would cause it to break as shown, spilling the filling through the phone, which is a terrible idea.

There is a mobile app named Ravioli, but it is quite unlikely that Randall had that in his mind.
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Throw pillow}}
|Throw pillows are made of cloth and are inedible, whether one uses a fork or not.
| style="background:#C5E6C3;"|A throw pillow is meant to be used as head support while reclining on furniture.
|Throw pillows do not usually have liquids inside them. Hence, Cueball finds, to his dismay, that it's empty.
|Throw pillows are significantly bigger than phones and as such can't fit inside them, nor can typical pillows power them. As depicted, the attempt to force a pillow inside the phone has split the latter in half; the top half of the phone is visible on top of the pillow, and a bit of the bottom half can be seen beneath it.
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Capri Sun}}
|Eating a pouch of sweetened juice with a fork would most likely simply pierce the pouch and spill the liquid all over Cueball.
|style="background:#FBF8CE;"|A Capri Sun would serve as a waterbed of sorts, and wouldn't be unduly uncomfortable in a pinch. However, it's still possible that the pouch could rupture and leave you with a sticky head and no support.
|style="background:#C5E6C3;"|Capri Suns are meant to be drunk like this, and are enjoyed by many.{{citation needed}}
|The phone shown is surrounded by spilled Capri Sun, implying that the attempt to force the two together punctured the pouch. The resulting spillage would most likely just result in the surface of the phone becoming annoyingly sticky, but if the liquid managed to get inside the phone (especially if the cover had been removed to try to put it in the compartment that usually holds the battery) it could cause a more significant and difficult to clean mess. Once actual power is provided (either an actual battery being subsequently used or the device offered external power by cable or inductance charger), the remaining residue could cause any number of further faults, and perhaps even critical component damage.
|-
! scope="row"| Bulging {{w|Lithium-ion battery|Lithium Battery}}
|Bulging lithium batteries are explosive hazards and should not be punctured lest they explode. Additionally the contents of the battery are toxic if one were to somehow manage to eat the burning bits of the battery.
|A lithium battery is a small, hard object, and a bulging one is no exception. Since the bulging comes from a buildup of heat and gas, (the primary gases being hydrogen and carbon dioxide), it would also be a constant fire hazard, which would not be conducive to relaxation.{{cn}} Lithium battery themed throw pillows, which bulge similarly to such batteries, do exist as a novelty item. Notably, these types of batteries are often referred to as "spicy pillows".
|Similarly to the 'eat with a fork' example, puncturing a bulging lithium battery is a bad idea.
|A bulging lithium battery ''could'' be installed in a phone, if one is willing to break the phone a bit (like the screen in the comic) to accommodate the bulging of the battery. More commonly, bulging batteries form inside the phone itself; if you don't usually have reason to charge or store it separately, you might only notice the problem when it causes the case or screen (shown as partly cracked, in the image) to distort significantly. In [[1422: My Phone is Dying]], [[Beret Guy]]'s phone is expanding. Although in his case it is not the normal bulging battery that causes this.
Upon noticing the bulging of a battery, it is strongly suggested that you uninstall it from the device it is in. It is at least no longer good at holding/delivering its power, and may even become at least as {{w|Lithium-ion battery#Fire hazard|hazardous}} as when used in all the other scenarios, so you should [https://www.reading.ac.uk/health-safety-services/fire-safety/lithium-battery-information/i-have-a-swollen-lithium-ion-battery-what-should-i-do ignore it at your peril].
|}

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

:[A 4x4 grid of squares. The columns are labeled: Eat with a fork, rest your head on, puncture and slurp, install in your phone. The rows are: Ravioli, throw pillow, Capri Sun, bulging lithium battery. Each row has an image of each respective item above the title, with the words “Home Sweet Home” on the throw pillow, and “Fruit” on the Capri Sun.]

Top-Left
:Ravioli, eat with a fork: [green]
::[Cueball sits on a chair in front of a table with a jar of sauce on it. He is eating from a plate from ravioli.]
::Cueball: ''Nom Nom Nom''

Top Mid-Left
:Ravioli, Rest your head on: [red]
::[Cueball is lying down on a couch with ravioli smooshed on his head and the couch. Ravioli bits can be seen on the ground]
::Cueball: Eww.

Top Mid-Right
:Ravioli, puncture and slurp: [yellow]
::[Cueball is slurping from a ravioli through a straw. In front of him is table with two plates, presumably with ravioli on them.]
::''Slurp''

Top-Right
:Ravioli, Install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone is shown with bits of ravioli sticking out and tomato sauce is dripping out.]

Top-Mid Left
:Throw pillow, eat with a fork: [red]
::[Cueball sits on a chair in front of a table with a jar of sauce on it. He is poking with a fork at a throw pillow covered in tomato sauce.]
::''Poke poke''

Top-Mid Mid-Left
:Throw pillow, rest your head on: [green]
::[Cueball is looking at his phone and is lying on a couch. His head is resting on a throw pillow.]

Top-Mid Mid-Right
:Throw pillow, puncture and slurp: [red]
::[Cueball is sucking on a straw that is inserted in a pillow.]
::Cueball: Aw man, this one is empty.

Top-Mid Right
:Throw pillow, install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone is shown on a throw pillow that has the words “Home Sweet Home” partially obscured.]

Bottom-Mid Left
:Capri Sun, eat with a fork: [red]
::[Cueball sits on a chair in front of a table with a jar of sauce on it. He has stabbed a Capri Sun on a plate and is now splattered with juice.]

Bottom-Mid Mid-Left
:Capri Sun, rest your head on: [yellow]
::[Cueball is looking at his phone and is lying on a couch. His head is resting on a Capri Sun.]
::Cueball: Honestly kind of comfortable.

Bottom-Mid Mid-Right
:Capri Sun, puncture and slurp: [green]
::[Cueball is drinking from a Capri Sun through a straw.]
::''Sluuurp''

Bottom-Mid Right
:Capri Sun, Install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone is shown to be squishing a Capri Sun. Juice is trickling out.]

Bottom Left
:Bulging lithium battery, eat with a fork: [red]
::[An explosion bordered by 4 skull and crossbones.]

Bottom Mid-Left
:Bulging lithium battery, rest your head on: [red]
::[Cueball is looking at his phone and lying on his couch. His head is resting on a smoldering battery.]
::Cueball: This fire hazard is uncomfortable.

Bottom Mid-Right
:Bulging lithium battery, puncture and slurp: [red]
::[An explosion bordered by 4 skull and crossbones.]

Bottom Right
:Bulging lithium battery, install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone with a bulging back, presumably from the bulging lithium battery. The phone’s screen is cracked in the center.]

==Trivia==
Surprisingly, the bottom right square was [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/4/4f/20241019165156%21ravioli_shaped_objects_2x.png initially marked in  green ] rather than  red  (or  yellow ) when it was first uploaded. This square may have been marked in green because, although putting a bulging battery in a mobile phone is not normal usage, it is a situation that can ''arise'' from normal usage when a "healthy" battery begins to fail. One other suggestion was that this was an [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd phone]], and a dodgy battery is part of a 'feature', such as an 'integrated hand warmer' or 'dynamic expansion').

More likely, it was just because Randall automatically went with the default association of "Row N is appopriate for Column N", as is his [[:Category:Confusion matrices|usual design]] for these comics, to which he adds adjustments for other surprises, exceptions and outright jokes.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Confusion matrices]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Phones]]
[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]

2999: Bad Map Projection: The United Stralia

2024-11-14T23:37:55Z

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE:

{{comic
| number = 2999
| date = October 16, 2024
| title = Bad Map Projection: The United Stralia
| image = bad_map_projection_the_united_stralia_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x651px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This projection distorts both area and direction, but preserves Melbourne.
}}

==Explanation==

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE

This is the eighth comic in the series of [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|Bad Map Projections]] displaying Bad Map Projection #102: The United Stralia. It follows [[2951|#45: Exterior Kansas]], released about three and a half months earlier. In this addition to the Bad Map Projections series, Randall has blended two different countries — the United States of America and Australia — into one.

As with a number of Bad Map Projections, the primary joke is the naming of this ''as'' a "map projection". Its depiction is particularly similar to [[2807: Bad Map Projection: ABS(Longitude) NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE]], in which geography is overlaid upon other geography. It also follows the practice of [[2256: Bad Map Projection: South America]], in which a general continental shape is forced upon other areas, with the general geographical outline of the 48 contiguous US states being merged with the political boundaries of Australia (with exceptions, most obviously Australia's Bass Strait being retained in lieu of the US's central Florida). At a further level of merging, the US states are repacked as subdivisions within the various Australian ones; as with the likes of [[2394: Contiguous 41 States]], it also takes some liberties with the relative neighboring positioning of some of these, although not by totally removing any of the actual {{w|contiguous United States}}. Alaska and Hawaii aren't included, likely because the 48 contiguous US states better match the shape and size of Australia. Australia also has no territories that would make a good match in size or shape for Alaska and Hawaii.

The geographically relative climate of the states of the USA is broadly opposite of Australia's. Australia's north is closest to the equator but the USA's north is farthest from the equator. Thus, if Australia's climate were literally applied to the US, Florida would be relatively cold while Maine would be hot. Likewise, applying USA's climate to Australia would make northern Australia unusually cold and southern Australia relatively hot.

The map pokes fun at superficial and irrelevant similarities between features of the maps of the United States and Australia, such as the shape of the east coasts of {{w|New England}} and the {{w|Cape York Peninsula}}, and the distance to the southern tip of the island of {{w|Tasmania}} and the length of the {{w|Florida}} {{w|peninsula}}. The end result is to illustrate a fanciful place which does not actually exist and thus would have limited worth for navigating either Australia or the USA, although navigation between two listed locations/areas drawn from the same original continent would at least be broadly possible (with the possibility of a few 'surprises' en route). The blending features cities from both countries on the map, e.g., San Francisco and Los Angeles (USA) close to Perth (Australia).

The {{w|states and territories of Australia}} are depicted with black lines/labels, while the {{w|states of the United States}} and such cities as are taken from either nation are marked with gray. The Australian states are labeled with their full names, but the American states are given only their postal abbreviations. (Mississippi is mislabeled as MI, in addition to Michigan's own correct usage, instead of the official MS.) Western Australia is usually abbreviated to WA, but the convention here leaves that unambiguously assigned to the US state of Washington. Idaho, for some reason, is not labeled at all, and neither is the Australian island state of Tasmania.

The title text makes a joke that this map does not preserve {{w|Equal-area projection|area}} or {{w|Conformal map projection|direction}} (typically, a map projection {{w|Map projection#Metric properties of maps|sacrifices one to preserve the other}}, or both to correctly depict a particular distance metric), but does preserve the city of Melbourne as a feature located on the map, near the actual location of {{w|Melbourne, Florida}}. Note that this is not the correct location of {{w|Melbourne}}, Australia, as it is far too much east in the bad map projection, but there is nothing to stop the shared Melbourne being entirely 'correct' and every ''other'' feature being shifted as a 'compromise'. The concept of a point being 'preserved', rather than actual dimensionally-meaningful quantities, is meaningless and just adds to the badness of the projection. There are other city names shared between the US and Australia, but they're not located at any obviously similar geographic locations; e.g., the location of Brisbane in the comic is based on the instance in {{w|Brisbane|Queensland}}, not {{w|Brisbane, California|California}} (potentially named after the main example) or {{w|Brisbane, North Dakota|North Dakota}}.

This is the second comic in October 2024 in which Tasmania appears, the first being [[2996: CIDABM]]. Both feature the major island groups in the Bass Strait, in this case perhaps intended as a sort of analogue to the {{w|Florida Keys}}, or else orphaned coastline features across the 'missing' segment of the US peninsula.

===Geographical relationships===
From west to east, the Australian states and territories contain the following U.S. states; the positions of Australian cities on the map are also listed:

{{w|Western Australia}} contains the following U.S. states:
*Arizona
*California
** {{w|Perth, Australia|Perth}} appears on the California coast, about halfway between {{w|Los Angeles}} and {{w|San Francisco}}.
* Colorado
* Idaho
* Montana
* Nevada
* New Mexico
* Oregon
* Utah
* Washington
* Wyoming

{{w|Northern Territory}} contains the following U.S. states:
* Illinois
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Michigan ({{w|Upper Peninsula}})
* Minnesota
** {{w|Darwin (Australia)|Darwin}} is positioned in northwestern Minnesota.
* Missouri
* Nebraska
* North Dakota
* South Dakota
* Wisconsin

{{w|South Australia}} contains the following U.S. states:
* Arkansas
* Louisiana
** {{w|Adelaide, Australia|Adelaide}} is located in the {{w|Mississippi River delta}} region of Louisiana.
* Oklahoma
* Texas

{{w|Queensland}} contains the following U.S. states and territories:
* Connecticut
* Delaware
* District of Columbia
* Indiana
* Kentucky
* Maine
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* Michigan ({{w|Lower Peninsula}})
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey
* New York
* North Carolina
** {{w|Brisbane}} is located on the coast in southeast North Carolina.
* Ohio
* Pennsylvania
* Rhode Island
* Tennessee
* Vermont
* Virginia
* West Virginia

{{w|New South Wales}} contains the following U.S. states:

* Alabama
* Georgia
** {{w|Canberra}}, and presumably the rest of the {{w|Australian Capital Territory}}, is located in southeastern Georgia.
* Mississippi
* South Carolina
** {{w|Sydney, Australia|Sydney}} is located along the coast of South Carolina, near the location of {{w|Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston}}.

{{w|Victoria, Australia|Victoria}} and {{w|Tasmania}} combine to make up the U.S. state of Florida, which is now divided into two non-contiguous parts. As a result Tasmania, which has a {{w|Omission of Tasmania from maps of Australia|history of being omitted from maps of Australia}}, is displayed but not named. {{w|Melbourne}} is located in the southeast corner of Victorian Florida. Although Tasmania's largest city {{w|Hobart}} is not labeled, it could share the same general location of Miami on the map. Alaska and Hawaii, the two non-{{w|Contiguous United States|contiguous states}} of the United States, do not appear in the projection. Other major geographic distortions include:
* The U.S. now has two {{w|quadripoint}}s, with the intersection of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico joining the existing {{w|Four Corners}}.
* Indiana has a border with Arkansas.
* Alabama and Mississippi have lost Gulf Coast access, as Florida has a border with Louisiana.
* Missouri has a north-south border with Oklahoma.
* {{w|Miami, Florida|Miami}} is separated from the lower 48 states, as it is now located in the non-contiguous Tasmanian Florida.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Above the map, in 3 paragraphs:
:Bad map projection #102:
:[In larger letters than the first or the third paragraph]: The United Stralia
:A 50/50 US/Australia blend

[A map whose left side looks like that of Australia and whose right side looks like that of the United States, with Tasmania swapped out for a supposed island that looks like South Florida. The modified subdivisions of Australia are bordered with black with their names also black, while those of the United States are bordered with the same grey the city names are written with, with the US state abbreviations being a brighter one]:

==Trivia==
The use of "Stralia" in the title echoes a common Australian verbal abbreviation for the country, often styled something like '''Stralia'', in casual speech or sometimes {{w|Elsa Stralia#Stage name|more formally}}. This is a convenient punny replacement of the word "States" in "The United States", as it starts with the same two letters.

On the day this comic was released, the xkcd homepage changed to show a [[:File:xkcd_homepage_strip_harris_for_president.png|strip]] showing [[Cueball]] installing a "Harris For President" sign in some grass, presumably on his lawn. This relates to the upcoming 2024 US presidential election.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Bad Map Projections]]
[[Category:US maps]]