https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Plentyofpaper654 2026-05-23T13:04:44Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1186:_Bumblebees&diff=74261 2014-08-25T15:26:32Z

<p>Plentyofpaper654: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1186<br /> | date = March 15, 2013<br /> | title = Bumblebees<br /> | image = bumblebees.png<br /> | titletext = Did you know sociologists can't explain why people keep repeating that urban legend about bumblebees not being able to fly!?<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> There is an {{w|Bumblebee#Flight|often repeated legend}} that according to the laws of aerodynamics, {{w|Bumblebee|bumblebees}} cannot fly. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that all the mechanics of bumblebee flight are not known and that the approximations to the aerodynamics equations which work well for fixed-wing aircraft, do not work for bumblebees. In recent years, there have been more sophisticated computer models of bumblebee flight, and they have discovered how bumblebee wings produce adequate lift.<br /> <br /> The strip also creates a fallacy that when experts can't explain something, they must not be able to understand it. In this particular case, experts are unable to explain why bees can fly airplanes because they can't fly airplanes.<br /> <br /> An alternate explanation is that {{w|physicist|physicists}} have been studying the &quot;problem&quot; of why bumblebees can not fly airplanes for a long time and the physicists assume that there is no known reason why a bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly a plane. When to a common person it is obvious that the bumblebees are physically and mentally incapable of controlling an airplane.<br /> <br /> This strip could be a reference to {{w|Bee Movie}}, in which the main character, Barry B. Benson, enlists the help of other bees to land a plane with the last reserves of pollen on earth. The opening quote of the movie repeats the Bumblebee legend, followed by saying, &quot;The bee, of course, flies anyway, because bees don't care what humans think is impossible.&quot;<br /> <br /> The title text mentions that {{w|Sociology|sociologists}} are also unable to explain why many people repeat this obviously wrong {{w|urban legend}}.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :Science fact:<br /> :[A bumblebee is perched on the yoke (control column) of an airplane.]<br /> :Physicists still can't explain how bumblebees can fly airplanes.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Comics with color]]</div>

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