explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3004: Wells

2024-10-29T01:09:27Z

Nedlum:

{{comic
| number = 3004
| date = October 28, 2024
| title = Wells
| image = wells_2x.png
| imagesize = 306x402px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = You do have to be careful, though--sometimes, instead of water, you hit this free fuel that you can sell for a lot of money instead.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MAGICALLY WATERLOGGED OIL DRILL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A water {{w|well}} is a hole dug in the ground, deep enough to reach underground {{w|aquifers}}. They have been used for thousands of years as a source of water by people who don't live close to usable surface water sources like rivers and lakes.
(
This comic pokes fun of the seemingly improbable characteristics of wells; talking about how water "randomly" forms below the surface of the ground and how they "magically" refill themselves. In reality there are complex systems (the {{w|water cycle}}) that dictate the formations of the underground pools that the wells take from and the underground rivers that refill them.

The title text points out that in some cases, people intending to drill water wells instead found oil beds. Oil is a very valuable energy source, so they became very wealthy as a result<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCfGVLKr5oM</ref>. This is the source of the idiom "struck oil" to mean receiving a windfall as a result of a lucky occurrence. But you have to be careful -- if you blindly "drink whatever you find at the bottom", as Megan says, you'll get very sick if it's oil rather than water<ref>https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/injuries-and-poisoning/poisoning/hydrocarbon-poisoning</ref>. Oil tends to be buried much deeper than water.

This theme of things that seem like they shouldn't work but do has also been used in [[2540: TTSLTSWBD]], [[2115: Plutonium]], and [[2775: Siphon]], among others

This comic bears similarity to a [https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/06/11 Calvin and Hobbes comic from 1993] that was popular in Randall's area, in that it points out properties of a common natural drink that can appear disgusting when the underpinnings are left out.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan is on the left hand side and is facing Cueball who is on the right side and facing her. Megan has her left hand raised.]
:Megan: I need water, so I think I'll dig a deep hole and drink whatever liquid I find at the bottom.
:Cueball: What will you do after you drink it all? Dig another hole?
:Megan: I dunno. Hopefully it magically refills itself or something.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:It's ridiculous that wells work.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]

Talk:1470: Kix

2024-09-27T14:10:21Z

Nedlum:

Is there a category:comics with strong language? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.71|108.162.225.71]] 11:36, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

From now on I don't think I'll ever see a box of Kix in the store without thinking, "Kid Tested, Mother Fucker!"[[User:Bmmarti3|Bmmarti3]] ([[User talk:Bmmarti3|talk]]) 13:16, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Is it just me or does the last item in the list seem a little out of place for something Randall would write/post? It doesn't seem to me that he normally takes to swearing (at all) in any of his strips. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:34, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

What's wrong with swearing, you guys? This is XKCD; we're supposedly a mature audience who doesn't shy away from using words simply because they're about sex and sex is bad. XKCD has dealt with sexual subject matter before, I don't think Randall ever tried to market it as a 'family-oriented' webcomic. If your kid gets XKCD jokes, I think they're mature enough to learn about sex! :P [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.171|173.245.56.171]] 14:14, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
: Actually this is xkcd, and I'm not saying there's a problem - just that Randall doesn't usually directly swear in his comics. It's just an observation. BTW, where'd the sex thing come from? [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:39, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:: I'm not entirely sure which webcomic you're thinking of... (?) because it couldn't be xkcd... I would agree that xkcd is about romance, sarcasm, math and language, and not ''about'' swearing... but by searching for your chosen epithet using the search box at the top of this page (I chose and found 27 examples of "fuck"), you can find such words used whenever he needed them (and occasionally even when they weren't ''needed'' per se) used in the titles, dialogue, labels, and title text. Please, take a couple moments and confirm for yourself. Without thorough analysis, I'd guess there was a "swear word" of one sort or another in nearly 10% of xkcd comics -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 15:11, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:::xkcd.com/90 "Where's my fucking jacket?" "Over there, next to your regular one" one of my favorite classic xkcd, redefined my perseption of the word "fucking" in conversation. It is perpetually hyphenated in my mind. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.91|173.245.48.91]] 03:37, 8 January 2015 (UTC)BLuDgeons
:::xkcd.com/37 "Hyphen" "My hobby: whenever anyone calls something an [adjective]-ass [noun], I mentally move the hyphen one word to the right. Cueball: Man, that's a sweet ass-car." - Another favorite...also pretty much has swearing at the heart of the comic. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.189|108.162.221.189]] 15:14, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

: The word 'fucker' is traditionally considered obscene because of it refers to sexual intercourse, which is considered a taboo subject that should be approached with care and sensitivity in Western Culture. So what I meant was that unless you consider that approach to the word warranted, it's not entirely logical to proscribe saying the word either. But since you don't seem to have an issue with that, I do agree: Randall doesn't swear in excess, but he does it when the occasion calls for it (like here), and that's completely fine. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.171|173.245.56.171]] 15:59, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

The last one sounds like something Donald Draper would come up with if he was an increasingly cynical ad exec in the 70's or 80's when this came out. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.170|108.162.216.170]] 14:15, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

I don't believe the use of Mother Fucker is sexual in this context, just an epithet. And Randall has used swearwords throughout the lifetime of xkcd, albeit not liberally. [[User:Mattdevney|Mattdevney]] ([[User talk:Mattdevney|talk]]) 14:28, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:Maybe he has never used the mother F word - and it does only appear here if you think it through... But the F word is used several time in the comics as can be seen by a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?search=fuck&go=Go&title=Special%3ASearch simple search]. See for instance: [[388:_Fuck_Grapefruit]]. [[114: Computational Linguists]], [[874: Time Management]], [[566: Matrix Revisited]], [[714: Porn For Women]], [[931: Lanes]] and especially the title text of [[110: Clark Gable]] [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:03, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:: There's also the infamous "Bangarang, motherfucker" from [[813: One-Liners]]. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.190|173.245.49.190]] 09:36, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:::Thanks for that - and I just realized that the word is written as one word not split up. So I just checked and he has actually also used it once more here [[1212: Interstellar Memes]] - though it is hard to find. But the star usees the Die Hard staement written here below in the next answer to the comment above ours. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:32, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
: I agree, it's more in the spirit of Die Hard's "Yippie ki yay, motherfucker" or the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDfZ5HmA6fs Usual Suspects]'s "Hand me the fucking keys, you fucking cocksucker". It's an additional expletive to show disrespect and contempt of the person you're talking to and about to get medieval on. [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 20:03, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
: I also Agree that Rather then Sexual I went to more of a Samuel L. Jackson sounding tone of it. [[User:Jimmyjazzx|Jimmyjazzx]] ([[User talk:Jimmyjazzx|talk]]) 03:29, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
''From the xkcd website:'' '''Warning: this comic ''occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children)'', unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)'''... I do think we need a category for these occasions of strong language. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.71|108.162.225.71]] 16:36, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
::We should include special categories for "unusual humor" and "advanced mathematics" as well [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.180|173.245.48.180]] 20:31, 7 January 2015 (UTC)BLuDgeons
:: If we need such a category, we could as well call it "unsuitable for children". [[Special:Contributions/188.114.98.238|188.114.98.238]] 19:52, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

In the interest of science, I have created a category for comics with strong language. [[User:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|ImVeryAngryItsNotButter]] ([[User talk:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|talk]]) 18:35, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:Seems like someone did not like it - if you did do that? There is no such category now. Which is also not needed in my opinion. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:48, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
This being XKCD, I think it's more appropriate if you made a category for "any comics not fitting the catagories" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.52|141.101.80.52]] 11:23, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

I just noticed that if you read downward (acrosticly) from the last letter in "SELECTED" you get "DEFEC" - which implies a different rhyming response.--[[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 19:18, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

When I read "Kid tested, mother not notified" I thought more of "Kid tested for substance abuse, mother not notified of the (positive) test result". {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.50}}

I had a sometimes different take on the explanation:
:For "Mother Selected", my first thoughts were that the mother was ''herself'' selected (for unknown purposes) despite/because of the kid being the one assessed for suitability.
:"Mother Perfected" seemed to suggest that after checking the child that she created, she was tweaked (genetically?) so that future kids wouldn't perhaps have some fault discovered in the first one.
:"Mother Not Notified", as already given in this Talk section, was "not told of the result of the test".
:"Mother Watching Helplessly" - per concensus.
:"Mother Infected", someone checked the kid for some disease or other, but it was actually the mother that was ill.
:"Mother Consumed", Mommy entered the food-chain (either as too old to bother testing the same as her child, or as part of the assessment process ''by'' the child).
:And the last assessment I agree with (although was half expecting a "MILF" reference... but there's not one there that I can see).
...but I can't argue with what's already been given. Consider the above as supplementary only. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.118|141.101.99.118]] 20:27, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

I believe "Kid tested, Mother consumed" means that the kid tested the product and didn't want to eat it but the mother also tasted it and decided that she liked it and possibly became addicted [[User:Carlosm|Carlosm]] ([[User talk:Carlosm|talk]]) 21:53, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

"Kid tested, Mother infected": they tested the kid (because they couldn't test the mother) and if confirms their suspicions: the mother is infected (and the kid as well). {{unsigned ip|173.245.53.103}}

:I did a significant rewrite of the explanation and incorporated most of these alternative interpretations. :) [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 01:42, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

;Revert on 1/9/15
Hey, I just saw [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1470:_Kix&diff=82393&oldid=82376 this revert] and wanted to discuss it with the person who did that revert. I was the one who had put quite a bit of time into trying to improve the quality of the explanation yesterday. I believe that the new text I put in did not substantially change the overall meaning of the explanation or any of the individual items in that list. I also took care to account for additional ideas that made sense from this discussion page. By reverting all of that, you threw quite a bit of work away that I (and possibly a number of other people) felt was valuable. Please, before reverting it again, could you work with us on this? Thanks. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 00:30, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
:Looking at the edit log, it looks a lot like a straight up revert through multiple peoples' edits, which I really can't say I a fan of. Try to avoid doing stuff like that, it destroys good edits along with the ones you disagree with. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:20, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
::Given the edit summary on the revert (that "someone" had "incorrectly" changed the definitions), I can't help but see it as terribly ironic, seeing as how the comic (and the explanation) is about how people can interpret things differently. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 09:34, 10 January 2015 (UTC)

Maybe last word "Fucker" is a cameo for SOAD and their song Chop Suey {{unsigned|Valdemar}}

I think "Kid tested, mother infected" sounds like a thinly veiled AIDS joke. (edit: This is my first time editing xkcd, the other contributions aren't me)--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.71|108.162.216.71]] 22:33, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

My understanding of the "motherfucker" one was different. I thought it was used either as an expletive (because they were frustrated at being unable to come up with a reasonable proposal) or it was just a joke proposal (as brainstorming sessions always seem to descend into as people get bored). Anyone else agree? [[User:Baquea|Baquea]] ([[User talk:Baquea|talk]]) 11:08, 5 December 2016 (UTC)

Shouldn't the "Mother Not Notified" and "Mother Watching Helplessly" make the "Kid Tested" assertion be reinterpreted using the same grammar? In "Mother Selected", the interpretation would be "Selected [by] mother" and "Tested [by] kid". But "Mother Not Notified" would be "Mother [was] Not Notified", which would lead "Kid Tested" to be parsed as "Kid [was] Tested". So of course the "Mother [was] watching helplesly" as tests were being run on her kid. {{unsigned ip|173.245.49.75}}

As someone who had no idea what Kix was when I saw the cartoon, I thought until I came to this site that it was some 'egg donor' company that promised exceptional children as the outcome. Go figure (and yes, in that case the last entry makes total sense). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.2.52|172.68.2.52]] 00:13, 31 March 2019 (UTC)

The final number on the is called an "elephant" in the article, saying this refers to "a ponderous ending of a joke that contrasts sharply with the refined and mild humor of the previous options". I've never heard this term before, and a couple Google searches don't provide any explanation. Is this a term that other people are familiar with? [[User:Nedlum|Nedlum]] ([[User talk:Nedlum|talk]])

2866: Snow

2023-12-14T16:34:56Z

Nedlum: Grammar fix

{{comic
| number = 2866
| date = December 11, 2023
| title = Snow
| image = snow_2x.png
| imagesize = 609x379px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = For someone who has ostensibly outgrown staying up late waiting for Santa, I do spend an awful lot of time refreshing websites to see if packages are here yet.
}}

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

This comic is about people being excited by snow, which can induce what might be seen as "childish" or less mature behavior. Many people like snow for a variety of reasons; it may be nostalgic for them, in areas where it is infrequent it may be the novelty factor, it may be aesthetically pleasing, they may simply like walking around in snow, etc. The first snow of the 2023-2024 winter occurred in Boston (Randall's hometown) on [https://boston25news.com/news/local/massachusetts-snow-totals-so-far-dec-6-2023/UYUUDAZQGNE3JAOBKPIQVWCOKI/ December 6th], possibly inspiring this comic.

As the graph shows, Randall's "apparent age" drops significantly when snow starts to fall, and while it rises fairly quickly as the initial rush of excitement subsides, it is still lower whenever snow is falling (and possibly beyond this, while it is still lying). Evidently, the mere presence of snow keeps Randall acting somewhat childishly; it may take a lot more time (or reality-inducing [[1674: Adult|grown-up events]]) to catch up to his true age. He can be seen staring out of the window in the fourth panel, obviously still significantly entranced and distracted, even if he is no longer running around in supposedly age-inappropriate excitement.

The title text refers to another common behavior of many adults - [[281: Online Package Tracking|constantly refreshing tracking websites]] to see if a [[2837: Odyssey|package has moved]] - and compares it to the idea of a child who believes in Santa and tries to stay up late enough to see him deliver presents. Constantly refreshing tracking websites is an unproductive behaviour and should be discouraged in favour of other more socially acceptable habits such as constantly refreshing [[xkcd]] to check if a new strip is out.

See also [[231: Cat Proximity]] for another event which changes a person's behavior.

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

:[Above the comic, there is a graph labeled "Time" on the X-axis and "My apparent age" on the Y-axis. The graph is flat until a large drop, labeled "The moment it starts to snow". After the drop, the line rises, but it doesn't reach as high as before.]
:[Under the graph, there are four comic panels. All show Cueball, a desk with a laptop, and a window. The panels line up with the graph's X-axis.]

:[Window without snow. Cueball at desk, apparently working.]

:[Window with several snowflakes. Cueball at desk, turning around to the window.]

:[Window with a lot of snow. Cueball jumps excitedly up from his chair, shouting.]
:Cueball: Hey! It's snowing! Outside! There's snow falling! Look! Snow! Hey!

:[Window with a lot of snow. Cueball at desk, apparently working, but possibly looking at the window.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]

2866: Snow

2023-12-14T16:34:20Z

Nedlum: Added comments on recent snow storm, as well as a comparison to 213: Cat Proximity

{{comic
| number = 2866
| date = December 11, 2023
| title = Snow
| image = snow_2x.png
| imagesize = 609x379px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = For someone who has ostensibly outgrown staying up late waiting for Santa, I do spend an awful lot of time refreshing websites to see if packages are here yet.
}}

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

This comic is about people being excited by snow, which can induce what might be seen as "childish" or less mature behavior. Many people like snow for a variety of reasons; it may be nostalgic for them, in areas where it is infrequent it may be the novelty factor, it may be aesthetically pleasing, they may simply like walking around in snow, etc. The first snow 2023-2024 winter occurred in Boston (Randall's hometown) on[https://boston25news.com/news/local/massachusetts-snow-totals-so-far-dec-6-2023/UYUUDAZQGNE3JAOBKPIQVWCOKI/ December 6th], possibly inspiring this comic.

As the graph shows, Randall's "apparent age" drops significantly when snow starts to fall, and while it rises fairly quickly as the initial rush of excitement subsides, it is still lower whenever snow is falling (and possibly beyond this, while it is still lying). Evidently, the mere presence of snow keeps Randall acting somewhat childishly; it may take a lot more time (or reality-inducing [[1674: Adult|grown-up events]]) to catch up to his true age. He can be seen staring out of the window in the fourth panel, obviously still significantly entranced and distracted, even if he is no longer running around in supposedly age-inappropriate excitement.

The title text refers to another common behavior of many adults - [[281: Online Package Tracking|constantly refreshing tracking websites]] to see if a [[2837: Odyssey|package has moved]] - and compares it to the idea of a child who believes in Santa and tries to stay up late enough to see him deliver presents. Constantly refreshing tracking websites is an unproductive behaviour and should be discouraged in favour of other more socially acceptable habits such as constantly refreshing [[xkcd]] to check if a new strip is out.

See also [[231: Cat Proximity]] for another event which changes a person's behavior.

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

:[Above the comic, there is a graph labeled "Time" on the X-axis and "My apparent age" on the Y-axis. The graph is flat until a large drop, labeled "The moment it starts to snow". After the drop, the line rises, but it doesn't reach as high as before.]
:[Under the graph, there are four comic panels. All show Cueball, a desk with a laptop, and a window. The panels line up with the graph's X-axis.]

:[Window without snow. Cueball at desk, apparently working.]

:[Window with several snowflakes. Cueball at desk, turning around to the window.]

:[Window with a lot of snow. Cueball jumps excitedly up from his chair, shouting.]
:Cueball: Hey! It's snowing! Outside! There's snow falling! Look! Snow! Hey!

:[Window with a lot of snow. Cueball at desk, apparently working, but possibly looking at the window.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]

Talk:2866: Snow

2023-12-13T21:46:03Z

Nedlum:

"This comic is a interesting comic about how most people get childishly excited about snow, including Randall." Really, that's the best you can come up with? Can we all please either try a little harder than that or leave the explanation for others? [[User:Darkwolf0218|Darkwolf0218]] ([[User talk:Darkwolf0218|talk]]) 04:39, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
:But it's snow. SNOW.

I don't think the graph actually plateaus, to me it still seems to be (very slightly) rising at the end. I expect Cueball's "apparent age" is asymptotically approaching the original value. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 06:28, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
:I superimposed the portions of the graph in question in image-processing software. The result is ambiguous ... this is a cartoon, after all, not a scientifically-rigorous depiction. The asymptotic approach hypothesis is reasonable, especially if "t" is as short (days? hours?) as it appears to be. Also reasonable is the hypothesis below, in which "apparent age" approaches the original value episodically, via events inverse to the original. An earlier version of the explanation mentioned these points, but these explanations have been edited out; indeed, the entire paragraph in question has been replaced. I suppose they can be put back. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.247|172.70.210.247]] 17:03, 12 December 2023 (UTC)

Regarding the lower plateau, what isn't shown is the negative effects of having to go and shovel the drive or the disappointment when the snow melts. These will reset his age and may overshoot the other way :'( [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 08:40, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
:Furthermore, if the recovery state were lower after every snowfall, and he's seen hundreds, then he should be like a baby now. Wouldn't it be cool if snowstorms were the cause of Benjamin Buttons Disease? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:11, 12 December 2023 (UTC)

Is it worth noting that it [https://boston25news.com/news/local/massachusetts-snow-totals-so-far-dec-6-2023/UYUUDAZQGNE3JAOBKPIQVWCOKI/ snowed in Boston on December 6]? [[User:Nedlum|Nedlum]] ([[User talk:Nedlum|talk]]) 21:46, 13 December 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2750: Flatten the Planets

2023-03-16T13:22:14Z

Nedlum: /* Death's End */ forgot signature

I have to wonder, would you slide down to the sun, or be flung outwards? [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 19:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
: The discs are centered on the orbit of the parent planet, and presumably rotating at the same frequency as the parent planet's orbit. That means the inner edge of each disc is going slower than you'd need to orbit the Sun at that distance, and the outer edge faster. If you moved inward from the original planet's orbit, the Sun's gravity would pull you in, but when you crossed the boundary to the next disc, you'd get flung back outward.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.61|162.158.62.61]] 19:58, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::No Each planet fills out the space within their orbit into the next planet. Easy to see as the outer edge of Neptune's orbit is the same as with the planet flattened. There is a distance from Mercury to the Sun indicated. Maybe because it would melt if it got any closer? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::First, they're rings not discs, but I'm skeptical of the math. And it looks to me like the ring's edges are halfway between the orbits, with Neptune extended outwards the same distance as halfway to Uranus's orbit. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.4|172.69.22.4]] 20:08, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

{{cot|My mistake, Randall's math is correct, sorry.}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-
! Planet !! Volume (109 km3) !! Orbital radius (106 km) || halfway to prior || halfway to next || Annulus area (10<s>9</s> ''12'' OOPS! km2) || Thickness (<s>cm</s> ''10s of microns'')
|-
| Mercury || 61 || 58 || 29 (to 0) || 83 || 19,000 || 321
|-
| Venus || 928 || 108 || 83 || 129 || 30,637 || 3,029
|-
| Earth || 1,083 || 150 || 129 || 189 || 59,942 || 1,802
|-
| Mars || 163 || 228 || 189 || 504 || 685,794 || 24
|-
| Jupiter || 1,4310,00 || 779 || 504 || 1,107 || 3,051,847 || 46,890
|-
| Saturn || 827,130 || 1,434 || 1,107 || 2,154 || 10,726,236 || 7,711
|-
| Uranus || 68,340 || 2,873 || 2,154 || 3,684 || 28,061,145 || 244
|-
| Neptune || 62,540 || 4,495 || 3,684 || 5,304 (symmetry) || 45,743,348 || 137
|}

:::: The volumes in this table are at 2 different scales. Only the Mercury to Mars volumes are at 1010 km3. Jupiter to Neptune are at 1012 km3 [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 21:01, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: Thanks, fixed; I had the scale wrong for the radii too. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 21:16, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::Someone please double-check this, I think Randall is off by a factor of 1000. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.229|172.71.154.229]] 21:37, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::: I did my own spreadsheet, and my figures agree with Randall's (roughly). I think your thinkness figures are mostly out by 1000, and a few of your volume figures also have the wrong scale (Mercury is smaller than Mars, and the giants are too big by a factor of 10). [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 22:07, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: 61 * 10^9 km^3 is [https://www.google.com/search?q=61+*+10%5E9+km%5E3+in+cm%5E3 6.1 × 10^25 cm^3], 19000 * 10^9 km^2 is [https://www.google.com/search?q=19000+*+10%5E9+km%5E2+in+cm%5E2 1.9 × 10^23 cm^2], and (6.1 × 10^25 cm^3) / (1.9 × 10^23 cm^2) is [https://www.google.com/search?q=%286.1+%C3%97+10%5E25+cm%5E3%29+%2F+%281.9+%C3%97+10%5E23+cm%5E2%29 3.2 meters]. I'm afraid I'm correct. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.145|172.69.22.145]] 22:31, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: According to {{w|List_of_Solar_System_objects_by_size#Objects_with_radius_over_400_km}} yes I had Mars wrong (corrected) but the others are roughly correct. I stand by my claim that Randall is in error. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.86|172.71.154.86]] 22:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::::: Mercury's orbital radius is about 58 * 106 km, not 58 * 109 km, which makes the annulus' area 19000 1012 km2. [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 23:20, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::::: I fixed that label, hold on... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.86|172.71.154.86]] 23:30, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::::: You're right. Thanks. Sorry. Reverted on main. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.215|172.71.154.215]] 23:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

|} 

This makes about as much sense as other Flat Earth theories. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.200.137|172.70.200.137]] 20:00, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:But this would actually be a flat Earth. Albeit with a rather larger surface area ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:And..the Earth-ring is not a disc and it's also in the same plane as the sun. Meaning If you were to stand on the surface of this ring earth , there would be a perpetual sunrise / sunset... And similar for everything else in the plane of the ecliptic. [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 12:36, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

But what does the plot of surface gravity vs distance from the Sun look like? Gravity of an infinite plane and all that?--[[User:Brossa|Brossa]] ([[User talk:Brossa|talk]]) 00:01, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

The explanation currently says that it would require "several solar system's worth" of matter, but isn't there enough matter in the actual solar system? --[[User:Purah126|Purah126]] ([[User talk:Purah126|talk]]) 00:49, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:That was said in reference to the Alderson Disk, which requires 1000km or so of thickness. Clearly more than the proposal here that gives a minute thickness (relatively) from the ''actual'' planetary mass in the solar system. Even if you reduced its extent (smaller outer, bigger hole for the Sun) it wouldn't thicken up enough. The prior (non-xkcd) version would require a mass of material rivaling, if not exceeding, that of the Sun itself. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.222|172.70.162.222]] 02:07, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

One of the reasons NASA rejected this could've been the use of inches. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.13|172.71.102.13]] 02:26, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
: Except for Mars. I can only imagine that use of the metric system for the Mars ring is a reference to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_failure Mars Climate Orbiter] fiasco, which certainly would not endear Randall, or his proposal, to a NASA granting agency program officer. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.150|172.70.214.150]] 02:45, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:: I assume the use of microns there is simply because 5/512 is a really awkward fraction. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.223.25|172.71.223.25]] 05:48, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
::: Awkward? Its vulgar! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.56|172.70.162.56]] 08:05, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:: Oh right, the Mars Climate Orbiter reference makes sense! I was wondering why Randall would mix imperial and metric units like that. No sane physicist would do that, especially not Randall. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.250.88|172.71.250.88]] 12:52, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

If the planets of the solar system were to become disks centered on the respective planet's current orbit, how do we deal with the different orbital eccentricities? For example, per That Other Wiki, Venus has an orbital eccentricity of 0.006772, Earth has 0.0167086, and Mars has 0.0934. Not to mention Neptune's 0.008678 and Pluto's 0.2488; Pluto's orbit actually crosses Neptune's. Surely that would cause issues with the disks? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.98.5|172.71.98.5]] 08:33, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:Pluto isn't involved, so at least that difficulty doesn't have to be dealt with. Maybe Pluto and other dwarf planets could be used to supplement the asteroid ball bearings.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.63|172.71.242.63]] 10:55, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

It appears that there is enough material in the asteroid belt to do this, since a ring of asteroid ball bearings with a 1 trillion kilometer diameter where each ball bearing was a cube 1 meter by 1 meter (clearly more than enough!) would be less than 10 trillion cubic meters. Since the total mass of the asteroid belt is 10^21 kg, and the average density is around 2 g/cm^3, = 2000 kg/m^3, then the amount of matter required is 2,000*10 trillion = 2 quadrillion which is much less than 10^21. (Not sure if this is actually correct) --[[User:Purah126|Purah126]] ([[User talk:Purah126|talk]]) 12:17, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:Ahh yes, the classic cubic-bearing. Just what we need in this planetary ring system we've created. Since Randall elects to eschew spheres for the planets, let's go all in and refuse them for the bearings as well. Bravo. ;-) [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 12:40-12:47, 16 March 2023 (UTC) 
::''I just want to say that this line of logic ''really'' tickled my funnybone. Well done! ...I've got no other valid contribution at this time, just that.'' [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.101|172.70.90.101]] 13:11, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
Did anyone notice that this came out just after pi-day? [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 12:40, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

== Death's End ==

I don't know if there's a non spoilery-way to mention that there are similar ideas explored in the novel ''Death's End'' by Liu Cixin. [[User:Nedlum|Nedlum]] ([[User talk:Nedlum|talk]]) 13:22, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2750: Flatten the Planets

2023-03-16T13:21:47Z

Nedlum: /* Death's End */ new section

Talk:2712: Gravity

2022-12-19T17:00:40Z

Nedlum: /* Black Hole Maw */ new section

Whatever image is supposed to be in the center isn't showing up for me! D: Tried on both Safari and Chrome but it gives me the little broken picture icon. Hopefully it's fixed soon! (The comic's been up for about 10 minutes going by when the bot updated this page.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.117|172.70.126.117]] 22:28, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

Is it me or are the planets way too close together, and if the gravity were real, they'd all smush together?

: The center image is trying to load this link, but there's nothing there: https://xkcd.com/tile/ship1/ship_gliding_2x.png. I hope that gets fixed soon. The "ship" seems to rotate a bit unpredictably over time. At first I thought it was responding to my mouse movements, but I don't think so anymore. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:34, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
:: Still broken on the mobile site (Chrome, Android). I just see a rotating missing image box. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.134.133|172.71.134.133]] 11:39, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

: Ah, the center image is controlled by the javascript, of course: https://xkcd.com/2712/comic.js. So this is some sort of interactive comic? [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:36, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

: Okay, left/right arrow keys seem to control the rotation. I'll check back in later in hopes of seeing the ship so I have some idea what the point of it all is. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:39, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

: And now it's working. You fly a little spaceship around the little planet. Luckily you have shields if you slam into the ground too hard. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:43, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

: Catch the cannonball for a spaceship upgrade. Also, not so easy to find a stable orbit around this little planet. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:49, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

Found another planet (has a reference to the "Tires" chapter in How To) with a cannonball, which turned me into an astronaut.

You can transform the ship into a different (seems faster to me) one by running into the last cannon ball.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.249|108.162.241.249]]

Rough summary: The comic is an interactive space flight game, starting landed on an origin planet. The planet is static, and the player starts in a ship controlled by WASD or Directional keys. The ship can go up and down, and rotate left and right. Game simulates orbits and gravity, making navigation tricky. Around the player ship there are dots which indicate nearby planets - there are numurous planets, each with what seem to be drawings related to the What If book. Within the browser, planets are loaded in PNG format by chunk, names formatted as "planet_0_0" with numbers incrementing as grid co-ordinates. Planets and objects found: "origin" "europa", "road", "b612". NOTE: Several hazards exist, such as a field of black holes - if flown into, the ship can become stuck if let to be pulled close to the surface, locking in place. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.230|172.70.110.230]] 23:13, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

: Within browser dev console exists the objects "Ship" and "Comic", the latter containing a list of all objects and coordinates, as well as various setting for the game physics and settings. Comic contains the sub-object "Voyager", which contains the details and settings for the player ship, including location, speed, etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.230|172.70.110.230]] 23:13, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

:: There are 5 ship types in the game code, each with their own consumable transformative found in the world. The ship alternatives are (ship1, ship2, ship-tintin, ship-figure, ship-soccerball). These can be changed with console command [Comic.ship = "ship1"]. Note: At current, "ship-soccerball" returns an error and does not load correctly. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.230|172.70.110.230]] 23:13, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

:: The "ship.shields" is a boolean value that defaults to true, and when set to false, makes the game behave in a lunar lander mode (bad landing black screens the whole page). The "ship.engine" types I see in the code are "warp" (very fast speeds) and "infinite improbability drive" (teleports to 'improbable' places). Default engine is "standard", but it seems any value that is not the former two has the same effect. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.165|172.70.254.165]] 23:32, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

: In addition to Europa, the space road, and B-612, there is the "Edge of the Universe" (complete with Milliways restaurant nearby), a... tree (which is extremely hard to land on), a planet populated by the characters from Dinosaur Comics (and the main cast of Jurassic Park), the USS Enterprice (NCC 1701-C), and likely quite a bit more. Orbital mechanics make it tough to land on the smaller targets. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.46|172.71.254.46]] 23:07, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

:: Plus what appears to be Earth, complete with the LHC. There's a 2nd "cannonball" there for an additional ship upgrade, but at the time I found it, that graphic was unavailable. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.232|172.70.126.232]] 23:15, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
:: "Edge of the Universe" is part of "Outside". There is a hidden tunnel from the main universe to the bubble universe at coordinates (7597,24327) point nose of ship at words "EDGE OF THE" and fire thrusters. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.160|162.158.79.160]] 03:59, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

: I went out a long ways away, and eventually found The Great Attractor. It attracts really hard. I couldn't leave the surface. (I wasn't able to leave the center of Europa either, though, so, not saying much.) There are also some terrifying black holes (a binary system?), though something's weird about their gravity; you kinda bounce off of them a quarter screen away or so? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 23:10, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
:: I *think* thats a wormhole, you go in one and then out the other. I got stuck right between them. Speaking of getting stuck, there is a bug where if you hit a planet with enough gravity fast enough, the ship is inside the planet. Holding W makes you go backwards (or at least towards the center maybe?) and you can get all the way to the other end of the planet where you slow down a lot, but can eventually leave. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.82.166|172.70.82.166]] 23:19, 16 December 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

::There's one planet that's supposed to be the "remnant of the sun", is that what you mean with The Great Attractor? (It has a bridge on it with a coin(?) blocking part of the way, and a space ship actively crashing into its surface, drawn as several frames.) You can leave that by skidding over the surface like a skipping stone to gather momentum - it's tricky, due to various obstacles, but possible! (It's possible you need two ship power-ups?! If they're indeed power-ups and not just aesthetic changes, I didn't pay attention.)

:::No, it's labeled "The Great Attractor". It's big and white and has strong gravity. Lemme see if I have a screenshot. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.25|108.162.216.25]] 00:20, 17 December 2022 (UTC)
:::Here: https://github.com/Erhannis/random_garbage/blob/main/Screenshot%20from%202022-12-16%2017-47-48.png [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.25|108.162.216.25]] 00:24, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

::Screenshot of [https://imgur.com/a/NZulBlb the Enterprise] and [https://imgur.com/2VSZYp7 Dinosaur Comics planet]. Sorry for the broken image in the middle, I picked up two powerups and [https://xkcd.com/2712/tile/ship-soccerball/ship_landing_down_2x.png my current ship image is broken]. -(pinkgothic) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.143|172.68.110.143]] 23:22, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
:::[https://i.imgur.com/fLU1cWy.png Dog Park planet] [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.114|172.71.254.114]] 23:28, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

Using a tablet (no keyboard, but seems to respond to touch), controls are confusing. Presuming that touching bottom left activates left-rotate and touching bottom right does right-rotate (can't see the presumably white-lije controls over the white planet) but I can't get ''thrust'' anything but 'reverse' into the planet centre. No obvious top-edge hotspots, either. Maybe I need to do a "You will not go to space today" and then reverse ''upward''... BRB, after a bit more testing, though... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.185|172.69.79.185]] 23:39, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
:Ok, the next go went 'better'. The browser keeps wanting to load "simplified content", but if I ignore that I can get full-screen, at one point I changed rocket-type (no idea how, can't do it again) and I ''easily'' get off the planet (hard to thrust just enough to get to the Hooke comment/cannon), with plenty of targets coming in range (but cannot slow down enough to not have it glitch and rebuild a totally new set of targets that I never can reach). Will try desktop version when I'm next on a suitable one... Looks to be a lot of interesting content. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.30|162.158.74.30]] 23:53, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

Using the developer console, the ship can be teleported to different coordinates via console command [Comic.voyager.pos.x = 0, Comic.voyager.pos.y = -1461], provided here with start location coordinates. This can be used for manual navigation to known coordinates. List of locations per game code added below, append landing X,Y to each as determined. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.230|172.70.110.230]] 23:42, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

b612: [5280,-7601] dogplanet: [2598,-23168] earth: [33803,-32974] enterprise: [1898,-61215] europa: [24930,8022] goodhart: [-23372,5928] greatattractor: [-594782,248510] japanmoon: [x,y] maw1: [x,y] maw2: [x,y] maw3: [x,y] maw4: [x,y] maw5: [x,y] maw6: [x,y] maw7: [x,y] maw8: [x,y] maw9: [x,y] maw10: [x,y] maw11: [x,y] maw13: [x,y] maw14: [x,y] nojapan: [x,y] origin: [0, -1461] peeler: [x,y] pigeons: [x,y] present: [x,y] remnant: [x,y] roads: [x,y] soupiter: [x,y] steerswoman: [x,y] sun: [x,y]

Note: For ease of teleportation, reference the ''Comic.planetRects'' array and use the first two numbers as X,Y. This will get the ship close enough to the object to then land and determine a landed location, via ''Comic.voyager.pos''

In your developer console, enter <code>window.ship.engines = 'infinite improbability drive'</code> and pressing up will randomly teleport you to interesting places.
<code>window.ship.engines = 'warp'</code> will let you escape normally inescapable objects.

Unfortunately, the infinite improbability drive will sometimes result in an object's image and geometry failing to load. The same bug can occur with a manual teleportation too close to an object. For convenience, here are a list of coordinates which put you relatively close to various locations, but far enough away to trigger the object's loading:
'''Major Locations:''' origin: (0, -1500); dogplanet: (2480, -23484); earth: (28720, -36912); europa: (26360, 984); goodhart: (-26600, 2424); greatattractor: (-594000, 247952); qwantz: (22120, -51788); remnant: (39240, -9648); soupiter: (-16000, 16032); steerswoman: (-70140, 2952); sun: (-29900, -32352); Bubble Universe: (5000,21000);
'''Smaller Locations:''' b612: (5220, -8424); japanmoon: (-11860, 10576); nojapan: (-15360, 10676); enterprise: (2020, -61904); outside: (250,28500); peeler: (-18540, -2264); pigeons: (-18040, 3956); present: (45640, 36816); roads: (26480, 23500); light mode toggle: (1500,-200000)
'''Black Holes:''' maw1: (-63152, 17130); maw2: (-60422, 16638); maw3: (-55950, 15508); maw4: (-59092, 14918); maw5: (-59582, 14238); maw6: (-58656, 14126); maw7: (-59400, 13828); maw8: (-58330, 13296); maw9: (-61544, 12796); maw10: (-59032, 11618); maw11: (-58762, 11472); maw12: (-53664, 10832); maw13: (-63486, 8424); maw14: (-52142, 20624);

Also, I found the following javascript function helpful for teleporting around. <code>function tp(x,y){ Comic.voyager.pos.x = x; Comic.voyager.pos.y = y; Comic.voyager.pos.vx = 0; Comic.voyager.pos.vy = 0;}</code> --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.233|172.70.126.233]] 03:06, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

If anyone wants to download the planet images, they're at https://xkcd.com/2712/tile/<name>_i_j.png, for i,j = 0, 1, ..., going as high as needed for the planet size. For example, https://xkcd.com/2712/tile/origin_3_3.png gives the bottom-right part of the start planet.

; Proposal
It seems the most explanatory thing we can do is replace the blank starfield with the starting image screenshot, and label its four corners with their x and y coordiates, and then make a table of all the objects with their coordinates, a screenshot, and a description of their behaviors. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.204|172.70.206.204]] 23:55, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
: A map with insets would be better than coordinates since the frame rotates. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 00:17, 17 December 2022 (UTC)
:: Here are some overview images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UPJ1_4xNQbsHVP5FplrTaVJa3e6WddjG The Great Attractor is much farther out than most of the planets. So I've also included a more zoomed-in image that doesn't include it. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.38|172.70.127.38]] 07:35, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

Got images for all the locations: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CVADHsRgBtDPYca-gdfVwNW_nEsrJ-zj?usp=share_link [[User:Clam|Clam]] ([[User talk:Clam|talk]]) 00:03, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

Looks like I was beat to the punch, but here's another way to access the raw images (on a dark background): https://aeromancer.dev/xkcd_2712/ [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.90|172.70.211.90]] 01:15, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

I’ve been able to glitch into the center of planets, but the ones with lower gravity I can get out of. I did this unintentionally by going headfirst into one really fast.

[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11pP8VbYkJDDWUOIFhUHO_DZmEbd9_E56 Here's] a version of the images on the starfields! Figured it would be the closest thing. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.29|172.70.111.29]] 02:23, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

; Table system
I've added the graph from good'ol hoverboard. Here's the format to add stuff.
|-

|Title, perhaps in triple apostrophes if they're a major feature, not on top of another planet.

|Transcription for people talking in that area. Don't do this for planets.

|Coordinates. 172.70.126.233 has a comment on a ton of coordinates and locations which need to be added. I don't know how he does that science stuff, but use it!

|Is it a reference to What If 2? Put a Y here if so.

|Is it a reference to XKCD? Put a Y here if so.

|Is it a reference to a movie? Put a Y here if so.

|Is it a reference to something else? Put a Y here is so. Leave these empty if not.

|Put the explanation here.

Please help out on adding stuff! There's a lot! Remove the newlines from in between the lines. I had to add those for them to format right.
[[User:Eelitee|Eelitee]] ([[User talk:Eelitee|talk]]) 04:33, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

OHNO
172.70.126.233 coordinates for teleportation specifically. I didn't read it right and put them in... I'm going through the data dump to try and extract them. Sorry!!
[[User:Eelitee|Eelitee]] ([[User talk:Eelitee|talk]]) 04:37, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

Alright, fixed. A few things I'm thinking about to do next, but I don't have time for:
1. Add gravitation attractions in a new column. They're all in the json dump, I suggest using a json viewer for more convenience. Or doing some coding?
2. Add item locations. This one is important, as items are a major feature.
3. Organize the items, either by alphabetical, or by distance from Earth. This might be hard...
4. Get details in! We need more information. This is the most important by far, get to work! haha.

GL, HF!

[[User:Eelitee|Eelitee]] ([[User talk:Eelitee|talk]]) 04:48, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

I'm was adding the "Y" tags for the different bodies, do we want to add a "Y" if there is any of that reference on the planet (for the planet row in the chart) or only add the Y on the specific comic fragments or POIs on the planet? On the one hand it seems like it would be helpful to see what kind of references are on a planet overall, but I also feel that it could quickly turn into every planet having every single box checked. Also, I feel we need a 2nd box for what if 1 vs what if 2, as well as TE and HT. I haven't explored the map very much yet, but if there are a lot of ST/SW/LR references they may need to be separated from movies, similar to the abbreviation system on hoverboard. I don't edit a lot and I have only edited "new" pages once or twice so if anyone has any advice or issues with what I have added feel free to add your opinions here. Thanks!

;Unlisted Planet
Hi all, first time poster so sorry if I'm formatting this wrong. I found a planet at (46070, 37936) which doesn't seem to be listed yet, and I didn't see it in the comics.js output or the google drive link from [[User:Clam|Clam]]. It's very small and has characters talking about the new book https://drive.google.com/file/d/19lfN8N06s18mKUhFkPcFddKYEXApAED4/view?usp=share_link Have we already accounted for this, and if not does anyone know where we might find a listing including this planet and possibly others like it? [[User:Jgendelgreen|Jgendelgreen]] ([[User talk:Jgendelgreen|talk]]) 06:07, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

No, you're doing alright. If you find something new, just add it to the list. Other people will correct it if it's wrong!
You can find a listing using the json dump that was posted underneath the list. I may have deleted the listing for that one accidentally... oops...
[[User:Eelitee|Eelitee]] ([[User talk:Eelitee|talk]]) 06:17, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

Oh cool thanks! I think the one I found is "present"[[User:Jgendelgreen|Jgendelgreen]] ([[User talk:Jgendelgreen|talk]]) 06:23, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

I wish to note that I'm using Safari on an iPad, which usually can't touch the interactive comics (I know hoverboard was a whole lot of nothing), for this one I can turn the rockets on and off, that's it. Seems like my path is predetermined, on autopilot (turns here then there, first time in an S, with nothing in sight to be modifying my flight). The first time I was going pretty fast, rockets off, then I turned them back on right before I blasted past SOME planet, flitted by in a blink, so I'm hoping to find it again, but I have no control except Thrust or No Thrust. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:12, 17 December 2022 (UTC)
:Check that, NOW if I tap the left side I get the right thruster and vice versa! Hey, I have control! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:24, 17 December 2022 (UTC)
::Found Jurassic Park planet and Dog Park planet, then found the sun, saw SOMEBODY saying something but I skidded to a stop too far away, and no, escape is NOT possible. I'm in the default rocket and turning on the thrusters just gives a little hop, not enough to then tun on ONE thruster to actually change position. I am unquestionably STUCK, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:42, 17 December 2022 (UTC)
:Does anyone know what [https://imgur.com/a/j7BAMrF this little island] is called? It's near the roads. It's been described as ''"A tree larger than the planet it's growing on"'' on the main page's table. -(pinkgothic) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.241|198.41.242.241]] 00:59, 18 December 2022 (UTC)
:: It's the "roads" tree planet, because the roads through portals need a center to show up as a point on the ship's mini-map system. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.205|172.70.214.205]] 08:58, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

;Cosmic topology?
Does space wrap around horizontally and vertically in a torus like the Atari ''Asteroids'' video game, or does it go on forever in all directions? If the former, how many times the area of the initial comic is it? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.159|172.71.154.159]] 07:33, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

;Game breaker
I found out that if run `ship.shields = false` and touch anything, the screen goes black forever.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.179.4|172.70.179.4]] 14:49, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

;Light mode

I don't see any mention yet of the "Light mode" button at X=1500, Y=-200000; it's clickable and inverts black and white for the comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.83|172.71.30.83]] 07:50, 18 December 2022 (UTC)
:I actually came across it a few days ago. I'm pretty sure I found it by holding down the thrusters from the starting position, but now that just sends me crashing into the USS Enterprise (and not even at the same angle every time, maybe due to lag) so either the position of something got changed or I'm remembering what I did wrong. [[User:SitkaFox|SitkaFox]] ([[User talk:SitkaFox|talk]]) 03:56, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

;More console shenanigans

Executing <code>window.python('import antigravity');</code> (referencing xkcd #353) in the console does what it says: gravity is reversed. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.83|172.71.30.83]] 07:50, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

;observations
this three-quarters planet seems to be impossible to get out of without the "warp" engines if you get in the center: https://i.imgur.com/tMchAa1.png

: Planet is not supposed to be three quarters, I'm guessing one of the tiles did not load for some reason. See [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wZSvRgB2dw03Md30PfDdSU03quygRVEw/view here]. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.35.69|172.70.35.69]] 18:08, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

i also got stuck in one planet by descending toward it very quickly https://i.imgur.com/9ilmtdK.png - in this state, descending and turning do nothing, but accelerating (pressing up) makes me slowly move downward and lets me turn very slowly

--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.7|172.70.114.7]] 15:01, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

also, i went toward this planet (downward) at high speed and became knit cap somehow https://i.imgur.com/JlRFuy4.png --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.160|172.70.230.160]] 15:16, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

Instead of there being a wide "references" column with 4 sub-columns, I think it should be just a "references" column with what the reference is as the text, instead of it being a boolean. This also allows for more detail such as "What If 2, chapter 94: What if I made up a chapter name" or something like that [[Special:Contributions/172.71.22.22|172.71.22.22]] 15:46, 17 December 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

There is a planet at {x: 34704, y: -25501} with a space elevator attached to it. In that same planet, at {x: 31682, y: -34551}, there's a guy complaining about the framerate being "really bad out today"; the screen will stutter if you fly by him.

I think that the planet labeled "Earth" in the table is actually Mars. Apparently it has two asteroids orbiting it. [[User:N-eh|N-eh]] ([[User talk:N-eh|talk]]) 19:45, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

I managed to stitch the tiles for each location and therefore created a complete image of each of the 34 locations. Where can I upload this to? I uploaded the code here: https://github.com/roee30/xkcd-scripts
: Is it possible to make a google maps type zoomable version of your images like [http://xkcd-map.rent-a-geek.de/] is for [[1110: Click and Drag]]? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.123|172.71.166.123]] 22:54, 18 December 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

== What if 2 planet ==

It's got a dinosaur being offered a hamburger, a person firing a cannon (one cannonball nearly goes into orbit) and if you can get yourself struck by one of the cannonballs the ship transforms.

I'm not sure if the transformed ship is BETTER, but it is different.

--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.52|172.70.131.52]] 17:19, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

== Underneath Europa's Crust ==

I managed to clip through the icy crust of Europa to the sea underneath (by flying at the planet really fast)... and there's stuff *down* here. Neat!

I'll update the table accordingly. [[User:TwilightWorlds|TwilightWorlds]] ([[User talk:TwilightWorlds|talk]]) 19:51, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

; I noticed some text that isn't written down on the transcript anywhere. Apologies if I'm doing something wrong, I've never contributed before. Here is the link to a screenshot of what I found. Not sure where it is, but hopefully it looks familiar. https://drive.google.com/file/d/11z1_mChMlWr2ZgJCksXEWiY17vosoMlI/view?usp=sharing

Maybe I'm crazy, but is it possible that the positions of some objects have been changed since the comic was posted? The other day, if I flew straight up from the starting point never disabling the engine, I'd get flung around by some gravity wells before being flung out in a direction that would, eventually, lead me right past the 'light mode' button. Today, however, I always end up crashing into the USS Enterprise, and to add to the weirdness, I don't even hit it at the same angle every time. Also, I hope I'm signing this right, it's my first post. [[User:SitkaFox|SitkaFox]] ([[User talk:SitkaFox|talk]]) 23:45, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

I noticed that the coordinates in the game code are not the same as the coordinates given by <code>[Comic.voyager.pos.x, Comic.voyager.pos.y]</code>. To convert between the two, multiply the x-coordinate by 2 and the y-coordinate by -2. [[User:Hdjensofjfnen|Hdjensofjfnen]] ([[User talk:Hdjensofjfnen|talk]]) 00:01, 18 December 2022 (UTC)
: of which one? voyager x pos = 2 * in game x pos? or in game x pos = 2 * voyager x pos?

== Stitched together image? ==

Would it be difficult to scrape the coords of everything and stitch it together into one large image/something with zoom-in and out a la those made for [[1110: Click and Drag]]?[[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.122|172.71.166.122]] 00:25, 18 December 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
: or maybe at least some zoom-out thing i can put into the console? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.64|172.71.30.64]] 00:35, 18 December 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
The pictures are tiles 1024*1024 px, file name as https://xkcd.com/2712/tile/origin_3_3.png, the last two digits varying from 0 to planet size. Done it for Origin but it seems I can't upload a file (?) [[User:Biem|Biem]] ([[User talk:Biem|talk]]) 08:09, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

Already working on this [[User:Majko|Majko]] ([[User talk:Majko|talk]]) 17:14, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

Done: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12ZxoMn4Val_9ccJKKE7OMYkfSq54ectq?usp=sharing (turned out it would be a HUGE image so the planets are separate files). I leave adding it to the page to whoever has the permission to upload files here. [[User:Majko|Majko]] ([[User talk:Majko|talk]]) 19:24, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

Basic Zoomable Version here: https://old.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/zo07ji/xkcd_2712_static_and_zoomable/ --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.46|172.71.254.46]] 04:33, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

== Different coordinate systems ==

Coordinates in the game you use to teleport are 2 per pixel ([1000, 0] is 500 pixels from the origin). Coordinates in the json file are 1 per pixel. Should the coordinates in the page be adjusted to be in the "teleport coordinates"? [[User:Majko|Majko]] ([[User talk:Majko|talk]]) 17:14, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

== Navigation display ==

I created a simple “navigation panel” to show my current coordinates and velocity; write this into the developer console:
<pre>
document.getElementById('bottom').innerHTML += '<div id="coorddisplay" style="position:fixed;top:0;left:0;width:30em;height:2em;background:white;border:1px black solid"></div>';
setInterval(function() { document.getElementById('coorddisplay').innerText = `${Comic.voyager.pos.x.toFixed(2)}, ${Comic.voyager.pos.y.toFixed(2)}; ${Comic.voyager.pos.vx.toFixed(3)}, ${Comic.voyager.pos.vy.toFixed(3)}` }, 500)
</pre>
--[[User:Mormegil|Mormegil]] ([[User talk:Mormegil|talk]]) 09:00, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

== Inspiration for Japan missing? ==

Could it be a reference to Japan being absent from maps edited by the PRC's government? For example, this PRC-sponsored video features a map in the intro where Japan is missing. https://youtu.be/e0oJtuljYRo [[User:Ck|Ck]] ([[User talk:Ck|talk]]) 12:58, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

Not just PRC maps. Missing island on stylized world maps are pretty common. See https://old.reddit.com/r/mapswithoutJapan/ and https://old.reddit.com/r/MapsWithoutNZ/ --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.103|172.70.131.103]] 15:01, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

This is no longer plausible when *all* the other, much smaller islands, like especially Corsica and fine detail in the Philippines, are all present and correctly shaped! [[User:Ck|Ck]] ([[User talk:Ck|talk]]) 15:46, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

Perhaps a stretch, but in the Webcomic Starslip Crisis, [https://starslip.krisstraub.com/20050802.shtml Japan successfully launched itself into space]. [[User:Nedlum|Nedlum]] ([[User talk:Nedlum|talk]]) 16:18, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

== Black Hole Maw ==

Is the cluster of black holes, labeled "maw", possibly related to the Maw Cluster in Star Wars?[[User:Nedlum|Nedlum]] ([[User talk:Nedlum|talk]]) 17:00, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2712: Gravity

2022-12-19T16:18:54Z

Nedlum: Theory on japan

Talk:2256: Bad Map Projection: South America

2020-01-17T15:47:53Z

Nedlum:

I overlaid this map on all the projections in https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/977:_Map_Projections to show the difference. Is that something this wiki wants? [[User:EmuSam|EmuSam]] ([[User talk:EmuSam|talk]]) 05:54, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:I don't know about the rest of the wiki, but I certainly do! --[[User:T0]] ([[User talk:T0|talk]]) 10:40, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:Heck yeah that's awesome! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.222|108.162.210.222]] 13:48, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
: I'm gonna venture out on a limb here in my toe-shoes and say that those of us reading the comments on the explain-XKCD wiki will geek our Azimov socks off over that. [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 13:59, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
: Huwah, want? I clicked the link above with high hopes :x How did you not upload it yet :D [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.110|162.158.155.110]] 15:40, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

How many different kinds of transformation have been applied to South America? I can see resize, rotation, and skew (shear). Can't see any reflections or anything that looks obviously non linear. Anyone care enough to check? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.119.83|162.158.119.83]] 08:02, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:Not an expert on the terminologies used, especially in English. Does what has been done to the south America that is where Australia should be qualify as resize? It is not maintaining the aspect ratios, and is much "shorter" in the direction that used to be north-south (the way chile is "long") (and is now east west) and much wider in the other one. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:17, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Note: 358 is country code for finland, which is completely missing in the projection. {{unsigned ip|162.158.238.216| 08:11, 17 January 2020}}
:Finland is part of Europe and Asia continent, which is now South America. It is thus not more missing thatn any country not in South America. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:43, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Something something a Brazilian South Americas how many is that [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 12:19, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

It's also similar to [[1653: United States Map]], isn't it? [[User:Nedlum|Nedlum]] ([[User talk:Nedlum|talk]]) 15:47, 17 January 2020 (UTC)