2996: CIDABM

2024-10-09T22:05:51Z

Powerranger: Added another example of an island which did not make the list.

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

The comic refers to four islands:

{{w|Sicily}} is an autonomous region of {{w|Italy}}, which is on the southern edge of the {{w|Eurasia|Eurasian}} mainland.

{{w|Sri Lanka}} is a nation south of {{w|India}}, which is also on the southern edge of the Eurasian mainland.

{{w|Hainan}} is a province of {{w|China}}, which is also on the southern edge of the Eurasian mainland.

{{w|Tasmania}} is a state of the {{w|Australia|nation of Australia}} south of the mainland of the {{w|Australia (continent)|continent of Australia}}.

These four islands 'dangle below' their mainlands only because of the convention of having north at the top of maps. If the convention had instead been to have south at the top, the islands might have been described as floating above their continents.

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}}). But, 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. Both of these factors might have contributed to the heated debate referred to in the title text.

While the banner on stage depicts each of the islands with aproxximately 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). Other islands that didn't make the cut for the comic are Corsica (8'700 km², south of France's mainland), Cyprus (9'300 km², south of Turkey) or Kyushu (36'800 km²) and Shikoku (18'800 km²) that are very close and south of the Japanese mainland of Honshu - like Tierra del Fuego, the status of all these islands as "awkward dangling" could be disputed, when regarding the four 'founding members' of the new coalition. Gotland (3'200 km²) and Long Island (3'600 km²) are even smaller, and like Taiwan (36'200 km²) they are arguably dangling more to the east than the south of their respective mainlands. The Isle of Wight (merely 380 km²) probably qualifies for "awkward", but not for "big"; the same likely goes for Stewart Island/Rakiura (1,746 km²), which dangles south of the South Island of New Zealand. Cuba (105'800 km²) which "dangles" south of Florida seems also not quite fitting the theme. Sumatra (482'300 km²), dangling south of the Malay peninsula, might actually be too large to qualify for the club.

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

:[A banner hangs at the top of the frame, labelled C.I.D.A.B.M., with several map segments on it. Four portions of land are shown in grey with a smaller island south of each in black.]
:[Hairbun, Cueball, Megan, and Hairy stand on a podium. The first two are shaking hands and Hairy is waving.]

:[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]]

2993: Ingredients

2024-10-03T04:15:16Z

Powerranger: Added incomplete transcript

{{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 a BETTER PLANET - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic jokes that it is possible (and intended) to use the 5 largest moons in the solar system, treating them as ingredients, to create a “better” planet, that has the “coolest features”.
The title text takes it further, treating asteroids as a “to-taste” ingredient in this “recipe”.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
There is a large blotchy sphere that looks like the result of several moons squished together.
Arrows are pointing to the different surfaces on the sphere with labels.

Sulfur chemistry from Io

Cool oceans from Europa

Hydrocarbons from Titan

Ganymede and Callisto (filler)

Captain underneath image:

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}}

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2996: CIDABM

2993: Ingredients