explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3171: Geologic Core Sample

2025-11-21T23:51:51Z

Slothscript: Ignore the previous one...

F1R5T P0ST [[User:Slothscript|Slothscript]] ([[User talk:Slothscript|talk]]) 23:51, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

3171: Geologic Core Sample

2025-11-21T23:48:42Z

Slothscript: Capitalization

{{comic
| number = 3171
| date = November 21, 2025
| title = Geologic Core Sample
| image = geologic_core_sample_2x.png
| imagesize = 493x789px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If you drill at the right angle and time things perfectly, your core sample can include a section of a rival team's coring equipment.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This image presents a core sample taken by a slightly chaotic team of geologists. Contained within it are fairly normal ground matter such as "topsoil" and "granite" but also such things as "bottomsoil", which has no IRL parallel, parts of subway cars, arms of a spelunker most likely amputated by the sample, a "balrog" wing (referencing a fictional animal which first made an appearance in [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/730:_Circuit_Diagram], and after diving through the core of the earth, the home of someone else. It first starts with cement, the foundation, floorboards and carpet (either a carpeted floor or a decorated floor), and then the posessions

The title text humorously refers to a "rival team" and their coring equipment - implying that with the correct angle you can muddle with their own coring experiment, which, outside of cold war-type pettiness, is not considered a constructive approach to science.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[This shows a drill sample with various labels]

Topsoil

Till

Granite Bedrock

Bottomsoil

Roof of Subway Car

Floor of Subway Car

More Granite

Municipal water main

Slightly different granite

Piece of screaming spelunker's arm

Cool Crystals with no resale value

Mangled Fragments of drillbit from previous attempt

Some boring intrusive rock that's basically granite but has a name like "diorite" or "andalite" that you always have to look up

Netherrack

Balrog wig

Granite

Topsoil

Cement

Floorboards

Carpet

Possesions of a confused and angry homeowner in the other hemisphere

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Charts]]

Topsoil

Till

Granite Bedrock

Bottomsoil

Roof of Subway Car

Floor of Subway Car

More Granite

Municipal water main

Slightly different granite

Piece of screaming spelunker's arm

Cool Crystals with no resale value

Mangled Fragments of drillbit from previous attempt

some boring intrusive rock that's basically granite but has a name like "diorite" or "andalite" that you always have to look up

netherrack

balrog wig

granite

topsoil

cement

floorboards

carpet

possesions of a confused and angry homeowner in the other hemisphere

3154: Physics Insight

2025-10-14T21:01:28Z

Slothscript: It was not specified that it did hit the people. We can infer it, but it wasn't explicitly stated.

{{comic
| number = 3154
| date = October 13, 2025
| title = Physics Insight
| image = physics_insight_2x.png
| imagesize = 302x351px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = When Galileo dropped two weights from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, they put him in the history books. But when I do it, I get 'detained by security' for 'injuring several tourists.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was invented by a BOT WHO DROPPED OUT OF COLLEGE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Cueball]] complains that the same proposal related to the physics concept of {{w|spacetime}} is treated very differently when made by him, compared to when made by {{w|Albert Einstein}}, a famous physicist. [[White Hat]] agrees, using the standard shorthand for this sort of inconsistency: "double standard" (two different standards of expectations or treatment, used each applied to a different person or group). The joke is that there are good reasons for the difference in experiences:

*Cueball's idea is not impressive to others because they already knew about it due to the work of Einstein and the wider science community since then.
*Even if two people discover something with the same level of insight and effort, society accords far more prestige to the first acknowledged discoverer, for solving a problem or revealing new possibilities. Early discoverers or prior contributors may be overlooked in unfair ways, and may have grounds to complain about a double standard. Since Cueball is saying this at a time when the finding has already become part of an undergraduate curriculum, this does not apply to him.
*Once an idea has been popularized, it becomes easier to accidentally rediscover. Cueball might have never been taught about Einstein's finding directly, but has probably heard of physics concepts that derive from it. Rediscovering a model for associating time and space is easier for someone raised with the concept of spacetime.
*The concept may have been taught to Cueball, who might have forgotten or not paid attention, and then later found the "discovery" much easier thanks to subconscious memories.
*Cueball might even have consciously learned the concept from others, but believes that the accordance of "genius" status to Einstein came from Einstein's merely describing the concept, as opposed to being a recognition of the long work of developing the concept independently.

The comic might be making fun of people whom [[Randall]] views as having similar misconceptions.

The title text continues the joke, but this time (re)creating {{w|Galileo_Galilei|Galileo}}'s demonstration of {{w|Galileo%27s_Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa_experiment|acceleration under gravity}} involving dropping different objects off the top of the {{w|Leaning Tower of Pisa}}. (Unlike the speaker, Galileo likely never actually carried out the experiment.) In this case the speaker was detained because the area below the tower was busy with tourists, a number of whom were most likely hit and injured by the objects dropped.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is talking to White Hat, arms outstretched.]
:Cueball: Sure, when '''''Einstein''''' suggests using the Lorentz transform to explain the connection between velocity and time, people call him a genius.
:Cueball: But when '''''I''''' suggest it, it's "basic physics" and "undergraduate stuff."
:White Hat: Such a double standard!

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Physics]]

3116: Echo Chamber

2025-07-16T21:58:24Z

Slothscript: For some reason the newline wasn't registered. Whoops!

{{comic
| number = 3116
| date = July 16, 2025
| title = Echo Chamber
| image = echo_chamber_2x.png
| imagesize = 383x296px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This is almost as bad as the time I signed up for a purely partisan fishing expedition.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by SOMEONE IN AN ECHO CHAMBER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[Cueball is sitting on a chair with his hands covering his ears. He is in a circular room with a phone on a stand. All words coming out of the phone are repeated everywhere, getting larger and less opaque]

Here's Mittens falling into the laundry hamper for the *THIRD* time today!

Now that. I've built one, I finally get why people complain about social media echo chambers.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3116: Echo Chamber

2025-07-16T21:57:11Z

Slothscript: Again, first time writing a page. I've looked at the other transcripts and this looks fine. Edit if needed (probably)

{{comic
| number = 3116
| date = July 16, 2025
| title = Echo Chamber
| image = echo_chamber_2x.png
| imagesize = 383x296px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This is almost as bad as the time I signed up for a purely partisan fishing expedition.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by SOMEONE IN AN ECHO CHAMBER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[Cueball is sitting on a chair with his hands covering his ears. He is in a circular room with a phone on a stand. All words coming out of the phone are repeated everywhere, getting larger and less opaque]
Here's Mittens falling into the laundry hamper for the *THIRD* time today!

Now that. I've built one, I finally get why people complain about social media echo chambers.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3116: Echo Chamber

2025-07-16T21:51:22Z

Slothscript: Creates the incomplete joke, first time, I don't know if this is good.

3109: Dehumidifier

2025-06-30T14:04:47Z

Slothscript: Changed humidifier to dehumidifier, as thats what the comic is talking about.

{{comic
| number = 3109
| date = June 30, 2025
| title = Dehumidifier
| image = dehumidifier_2x.png
| imagesize = 295x327px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's important for devices to have internet connectivity so the manufacturer can patch remote exploits.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created WITHOUT INTERNET ACCESS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

In this comic, Randall mocks the recent trend of various appliances that traditionally do not require Internet connection to work, such as induction stoves or juicers, using Internet. A dehumidifier, obviously, does not require the Internet connection, much less for updates.

The title text says that authorized Internet access is required to patch remote exploits, i.e. harmful unauthorized access from the Internet. This problem can obviously be fixed much more easily by a device not having any access to the Internet.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

: [A salesman is showing Cueball a dehumidifier, with a "SALE" label on it.]

: Salesman: The dehumidifier model features built-in WiFi for remote updates.
: Cueball: Great! That will be really useful if they discover a new kind of water.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>