https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Rml1997explain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-05-01T02:40:39ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2012:_Thorough_Analysis&diff=1593802012: Thorough Analysis2018-06-27T19:03:58Z<p>Rml1997: /* Explanation */ Grammar fix</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2012<br />
| date = June 27, 2018<br />
| title = Thorough Analysis<br />
| image = thorough_analysis.png<br />
| titletext = The likely shape of the bells was determined through consultation with several bellringing experts at the Tower of London. Transcripts of those interviews are available in Appendix VII.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a Computer Model - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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This comic remarks on how obsessively some scientific papers investigate some insignificant, obscure things. It gives the example of an investigation into whether an earthquake in 1811 caused church bells 600 miles away to ring, which, although mildly interesting, is not of any scientific importance today.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
: [The comic mainly consists of a research paper:]<br />
: <span style="color:gray">1. Introduction</span><br />
: <span style="color:gray">The December 1811 earthquake near New Madrid, Missouri reportedly caused church bells to ring in Charleston, South Carolina.</span><br />
: <span style="color:gray">But did it?</span><br />
: <span style="color:gray">The original bell tower has been lost, but a computer model of the church building was created from archival plans and forensic masonry analysis. Genetic testing of the timber from local trees related to those used in the bell tower shows a weakness in the</span><br />
: [Caption below the panel:]<br />
: My favorite genre of scientific papers are exhaustive 100-page treatises that answer some minor question with the obsessive thoroughness of the 9/11 commission report.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}</div>Rml1997