explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2891: Log Cabin

2024-02-07T19:59:59Z

TianHanFei: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2891
| date = February 7, 2024
| title = Log Cabin
| image = log_cabin_2x.png
| imagesize = 353x265px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I'm sure the building inspectors will approve my design once they finally manage to escape.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LOGARITHMIC CABIN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is a building {{w|floor plan}}, presumably of a {{w|log cabin}}. The odd part about it is the right half, which appears to be infinitely recursive copies of the building, like a {{w|fractal}}.

The joke is that Randall is intentionally conflating the word "log" in the common phrase "log cabin," where "log" refers to the wood the cabin is made of, as opposed to the mathematical function of the "log."

In the title text, Randall says that he is confident that building inspectors will approve his log cabin, assuming that they can escape. Especially in the bottom right corner, the entire log cabin seems to be a labyrinth of rooms and hallways.

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

:[Caption below the panel]:
:Log cabin

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Math]]

2890: Relationship Advice

2024-02-05T18:42:04Z

TianHanFei: title text

{{comic
| number = 2890
| date = February 5, 2024
| title = Relationship Advice
| image = relationship_advice_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x241px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Good to be a little wary of advice that sounds too much like a self pep talk.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RELATIONSHIP WITH A JOB IN FINE ARTS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, [[White Hat]], [[Cueball]], and [[Ponytail]] can be seen having a conversation about relationships. In the second frame, [[White Hat]] is saying that relationships are a job in of itself and need constant work. An off-frame voice expresses wary and unsure news. In the third frame, [[White Hat]] is saying that relationships are “a challenge that feels overwhelming” and create a crushing burden. Again, [[Cueball]] voices confusion and disagreement. Finally, in the last frame, he says that relationships are “a gruelling ordeal”. Hearing all of this “relationship advice”, [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] ask who he’s trying to convince and if he’s ok. [[White Hat]] manically yells out that he’s ok, making his point moot, as his behaviour is clearly NOT ok. The joke is that even though [[White Hat]] is giving relationship advice, his advice is actually negative and isn’t helping the couple feel better. Perhaps White Hat is even having trouble in his own relationship, which would explain why he seems to be describing relationships in general so pessimistically. There’s also a possibility that [[White Hat]] is {{w|aromantic}}, meaning that he doesn’t experience love and may have a negative outlook on romance. Seeing Randall’s negative thoughts on Valentine’s Day, it may not be a coincidence that this comic was released only 9 days before the holiday.

When someone is in an abusive relationship, they may struggle to see that the relationship is abusive. There are various reasons this may occur (e.g. {{w| Traumatic Bonding}}) but does not change the fact that the relationship is abusive. If someone is in a situation like this, they may need help from friends or professional counselors to see the situation they are in.

The title text explains that when a person's advice sounds overtly negative, or otherwise seemingly too specific to their own personal difficulties in life, then that person may not be the most qualified to give that advice. Perhaps the person in this position is more so giving advice as a way to project their own feelings about their circumstances rather than actually providing helpful information. In this comic, this sentiment is seemingly applied to White Hat, whose "relationship advice" may be much more personal than such advice should reasonably be, and the reader is thus warned to take advice like this with a grain of salt.

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

:[White Hat, Cueball and Ponytail are walking]
:White Hat: What you have to remember is, relationships aren't easy.
:Ponytail: Yeah, fair.

:[Close-up of White Hat who has his finger raised]
:White Hat: They're hard. They require constant work.
:White Hat: A relationship is a job.
:Off-panel voice: I guess...

:[White Hat has stopped walking and is facing Cueball and Ponytail standing a bit further away]
:White Hat: It's a challenge that feels overwhelming. It's a crushing burden.
:Cueball: Umm.

:[White Hat has his arms spread out]
:White Hat: A relationship is a grueling ordeal.
:Cueball: ...Who are you trying to convince, exactly?
:Ponytail: Yeah, are '''''you''''' okay?
:White Hat: I'm '''''fine!''''' This is '''''normal!'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Romance]]

2885: Spelling

2024-01-24T13:39:53Z

TianHanFei: /* Explanation */ title text

{{comic
| number = 2885
| date = January 24, 2024
| title = Spelling
| image = spelling_2x.png
| imagesize = 281x333px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Any time I misspell a word it's just because I have too much integrity to copy answers from the dictionary.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PLAGIARISED WIKIHOW ARTICLE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Some words are difficult to remember how to spell, but Google and other search engines have autocorrect when you search misspelled words, so some people look up some garbled version on Google, then copy the corrected version and pasted it into their document.
Cueball is having a moral dilemma about if it is okay to do that for the word 'plagiarism' (taking other's work without permission or credits) because he thinks that doing so would be plagiarism, and undermine his point.

The title text is referring to a similar moral dilemma, in which Cueball says he tends to misspell words because he would rather not "copy from the dictionary," considering that plagiarism. This is against the point of the dictionary, however, as the dictionary itself isn't actually the copyrighted intellectual property of a specific person, but rather meant to be a catalogue of all the words in the English language. Thus it wouldn't actually be plagiarism to copy the correct spelling from there.

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

[Cueball and Megan are looking at a laptop being operated by Cueball]

Megan: When I can't spell a word I usually just google and copy and paste it from the results.

Cueball: Yeah, but I can't do that '''HERE!!'''

[Caption below the panel:]
Why spelling "plagiarism" is especially hard
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2775: Siphon

2023-05-15T01:57:32Z

TianHanFei: time

My understanding was that siphoning can essentially be explained by the Bernoulli equation? There is a difference in potential energy between the upper and lower container so it flows. The weight of water in the downhill part of the tube pulls water up the uphill section of the tube (think like a vacuum), and so on until there's either no difference in head or no more water. Siphoning will work with any diameter tube. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.151|172.70.91.151]] 15:43, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:That's right. The only mention of capillary action in the siphon wikipedia article is when talking about phenomenon that *isn't* a siphon. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:15, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Agree, capillary action does not seem to be referenced or implied in the comic, presenting only the (not "functioning") siphon phenomenon. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.134.142|172.68.134.142]] 16:23, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:Seconded/thirded. Capillary action isn't even what they were expecting. The small amount of water in the lowe receptical indicates they correctly ''filled'' the tube, but then as the longer length drained it did not then induce further flow up and over through the shorter length. e.g. nature no longer abhored the resulting vacuum (or there was increased negative-pressure vapourisation, beyond that previously expected, or other method of seepage 'airlock'-breaking) and thus the short-end also drained straight back out again instead of becoming a potentially self-sustaining inflow to the whole siphoning setup.
::If the upper end got restricted (say by touching the side of the bucket) the loss of flow would allow air to enter the bottom end and drain out the tube. I've done this. :-( [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 19:07, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:::Indeed, even having an especially large diameter "tube" (/pipe etc) can allow air from the bottom to flow up to the peak & break the siphon effect. For reliable results, the lower end needs to be kept immersed or the hose needs to be relatively small in diameter. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:11, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
:While the capilliary action element ''could'' induce the start of a rather limited 'empty' siphon setup to start (maybe, I'd have doubts about the 'fluid friction' actually acting against the gravity-feed part, once the surface-tension bit has "climbed the mountain" and started to merely seep out of the other end, almost incidentally, for a sufficiently thin tubing where CA is a significant factor), this suddenly failing for whatever reason (surface-tension effects being nullified) wouldn't then send a token amount of water into the low bucket, nor particularly stop unrelated siphon-flow from continuing properly (in fact, suddenly 'interaction-free' liquid and tubing might siphon ''faster'', with effectively zero fluid boundary effects dragging on the induced flow).
:But perhaps someone with more QFD experience could explain where my assessment is wrong. So not going to personally rewrite the current Explanation intro just now. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.161|172.70.162.161]] 16:21, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:I'd like to contribute as one more data point. I also don't see capillary action as being relevant. In particular, as another commenter said, the water in the lower bucket quite clearly supports the idea that the siphon effect was the subject of the characters' confusion. How else is Randall supposed to depict the siphon effect anyway? I agree that the drawing alone ''could'' also suggest capillary action is what's being investigated, but I don't think it suggests that the caption has ''incorrectly'' referred to it as the siphon effect. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.100|172.71.254.100]] 18:44, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Of course, if some physical law would actually stop working, people wouldn't be confused. They would drop dead. Due to physical laws working on level of elementary particles, every change would have lot of different effects ... and living organism live only thanks to being very carefully balanced in lot of regards. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 20:49, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Bug report 6EQUJ5: Odd signal emitted from Sagittarius constellation. Status: Closed - could not reproduce. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.69|172.71.26.69]] 03:20, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

Siphoning is NOT because of capillary action! That should be changed!! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.90|172.70.127.90]] 15:35, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

I guess I was wrong that siphons work because of capillary action. [[User:TianHanFei|TianHanFei]] ([[User talk:TianHanFei|talk]]) 1:57, 15 May 2023 (UTC)

== Potential inspiration ==

One potential source of inspiration for this comic is the Twitter [https://twitter.com/earth_updates account @Earth_Updates], which produces a lot of similar content. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 19:54, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

I think if I added it to the article body it would get reverted, but the content seems very similar to how AI media produced delusional worlds for so many factions of people. It is not at all a big stretch to imagine people stepping into a metaverse or matrix where they aren’t sure what is real and physical laws match their intuition more than is actually correct. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.171|162.158.158.171]] 08:23, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

== Title text ==

Isn't the title text about stars like our sun rather than about plutonium? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.95|198.41.242.95]] 00:55, 13 May 2023 (UTC)h
:Seems to me unlikely that anyone would refer to stars as 'rocks'.[[User:Catherine|Catherine]] ([[User talk:Catherine|talk]]) 02:54, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
::There is Slate that turn into lava spontaneously after lying around for thousands of years. I think the area they are in is called "Smoking Hills". There was recent research why that slate does this while in much the rest of the world slate is just flat, black rocks. I still believe this title text is about plutonium, though, as that slate produces so much heat, that one still hasn't managed to measure how hot it gets - but it produces that heat not for an near-infinite duration.--[[User:Gunterkoenigsmann|Gunterkoenigsmann]] ([[User talk:Gunterkoenigsmann|talk]]) 01:48, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
:::The only {{w|Smoking Hills}} that came to mind was natural shale-fires (chemical burning, and not hot enough for remelting to magma/lava.
:::Possibly there is a {{w|natural nuclear fission reactor|situation}} where it has done as you say (in some natural mass of rock, spotted somewhere in this planet's lithosphere, or elsewhere out there), but given the fine line between nicely sustaining and runaway chain-reactions, I'm not sure how easy it is for nature to 'engineer' a way to land on the {{w|Corium (nuclear reactor)|middle ground}} and not go supercritical.
:::In order for accumulating ores to not just start a low-level fizzle (as above), over millenia, you might need separate ore-patches either side of a fault to come together in a suddenish techtonic slip, rather than a slow buckling of layers to increase effective ore-densities. And then you've got earthquakes, already, so not sure if the very low-grade nuclear explosion that is awfully close to being possible in this chance contrived example (at one end of the probability curve, unless U238 content is somehow preferentially leached out?) is going to be noticable.
:::But ''just'' hot enough for lava? If not already close to melting, anyway, under local temperatures and pressures? Not sure we've seen anything like it, even if it is technically feasible given enough happenstance setups by geology(/exo-geology), since planets formed. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.152|172.70.91.152]] 09:16, 14 May 2023 (UTC)

== Title Text-Radiation ==

The title text is referring to the heat created by natural radioactive decay, not humans harnessing it in reactors.

The literal rocks of particularly radioactive elements still in the ground are constantly producing small amounts of heat without our assistance

[[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.48|172.71.151.48]] 06:27, 14 May 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2775: Siphon

2023-05-15T01:56:12Z

TianHanFei: forgot to sign

My understanding was that siphoning can essentially be explained by the Bernoulli equation? There is a difference in potential energy between the upper and lower container so it flows. The weight of water in the downhill part of the tube pulls water up the uphill section of the tube (think like a vacuum), and so on until there's either no difference in head or no more water. Siphoning will work with any diameter tube. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.151|172.70.91.151]] 15:43, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:That's right. The only mention of capillary action in the siphon wikipedia article is when talking about phenomenon that *isn't* a siphon. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:15, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Agree, capillary action does not seem to be referenced or implied in the comic, presenting only the (not "functioning") siphon phenomenon. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.134.142|172.68.134.142]] 16:23, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:Seconded/thirded. Capillary action isn't even what they were expecting. The small amount of water in the lowe receptical indicates they correctly ''filled'' the tube, but then as the longer length drained it did not then induce further flow up and over through the shorter length. e.g. nature no longer abhored the resulting vacuum (or there was increased negative-pressure vapourisation, beyond that previously expected, or other method of seepage 'airlock'-breaking) and thus the short-end also drained straight back out again instead of becoming a potentially self-sustaining inflow to the whole siphoning setup.
::If the upper end got restricted (say by touching the side of the bucket) the loss of flow would allow air to enter the bottom end and drain out the tube. I've done this. :-( [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 19:07, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:::Indeed, even having an especially large diameter "tube" (/pipe etc) can allow air from the bottom to flow up to the peak & break the siphon effect. For reliable results, the lower end needs to be kept immersed or the hose needs to be relatively small in diameter. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:11, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
:While the capilliary action element ''could'' induce the start of a rather limited 'empty' siphon setup to start (maybe, I'd have doubts about the 'fluid friction' actually acting against the gravity-feed part, once the surface-tension bit has "climbed the mountain" and started to merely seep out of the other end, almost incidentally, for a sufficiently thin tubing where CA is a significant factor), this suddenly failing for whatever reason (surface-tension effects being nullified) wouldn't then send a token amount of water into the low bucket, nor particularly stop unrelated siphon-flow from continuing properly (in fact, suddenly 'interaction-free' liquid and tubing might siphon ''faster'', with effectively zero fluid boundary effects dragging on the induced flow).
:But perhaps someone with more QFD experience could explain where my assessment is wrong. So not going to personally rewrite the current Explanation intro just now. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.161|172.70.162.161]] 16:21, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:I'd like to contribute as one more data point. I also don't see capillary action as being relevant. In particular, as another commenter said, the water in the lower bucket quite clearly supports the idea that the siphon effect was the subject of the characters' confusion. How else is Randall supposed to depict the siphon effect anyway? I agree that the drawing alone ''could'' also suggest capillary action is what's being investigated, but I don't think it suggests that the caption has ''incorrectly'' referred to it as the siphon effect. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.100|172.71.254.100]] 18:44, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Of course, if some physical law would actually stop working, people wouldn't be confused. They would drop dead. Due to physical laws working on level of elementary particles, every change would have lot of different effects ... and living organism live only thanks to being very carefully balanced in lot of regards. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 20:49, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Bug report 6EQUJ5: Odd signal emitted from Sagittarius constellation. Status: Closed - could not reproduce. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.69|172.71.26.69]] 03:20, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

Siphoning is NOT because of capillary action! That should be changed!! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.90|172.70.127.90]] 15:35, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

I guess I was wrong that siphons work because of capillary action. [[User:TianHanFei|TianHanFei]] ([[User talk:TianHanFei|talk]])

== Potential inspiration ==

One potential source of inspiration for this comic is the Twitter [https://twitter.com/earth_updates account @Earth_Updates], which produces a lot of similar content. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 19:54, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

I think if I added it to the article body it would get reverted, but the content seems very similar to how AI media produced delusional worlds for so many factions of people. It is not at all a big stretch to imagine people stepping into a metaverse or matrix where they aren’t sure what is real and physical laws match their intuition more than is actually correct. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.171|162.158.158.171]] 08:23, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

== Title text ==

Isn't the title text about stars like our sun rather than about plutonium? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.95|198.41.242.95]] 00:55, 13 May 2023 (UTC)h
:Seems to me unlikely that anyone would refer to stars as 'rocks'.[[User:Catherine|Catherine]] ([[User talk:Catherine|talk]]) 02:54, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
::There is Slate that turn into lava spontaneously after lying around for thousands of years. I think the area they are in is called "Smoking Hills". There was recent research why that slate does this while in much the rest of the world slate is just flat, black rocks. I still believe this title text is about plutonium, though, as that slate produces so much heat, that one still hasn't managed to measure how hot it gets - but it produces that heat not for an near-infinite duration.--[[User:Gunterkoenigsmann|Gunterkoenigsmann]] ([[User talk:Gunterkoenigsmann|talk]]) 01:48, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
:::The only {{w|Smoking Hills}} that came to mind was natural shale-fires (chemical burning, and not hot enough for remelting to magma/lava.
:::Possibly there is a {{w|natural nuclear fission reactor|situation}} where it has done as you say (in some natural mass of rock, spotted somewhere in this planet's lithosphere, or elsewhere out there), but given the fine line between nicely sustaining and runaway chain-reactions, I'm not sure how easy it is for nature to 'engineer' a way to land on the {{w|Corium (nuclear reactor)|middle ground}} and not go supercritical.
:::In order for accumulating ores to not just start a low-level fizzle (as above), over millenia, you might need separate ore-patches either side of a fault to come together in a suddenish techtonic slip, rather than a slow buckling of layers to increase effective ore-densities. And then you've got earthquakes, already, so not sure if the very low-grade nuclear explosion that is awfully close to being possible in this chance contrived example (at one end of the probability curve, unless U238 content is somehow preferentially leached out?) is going to be noticable.
:::But ''just'' hot enough for lava? If not already close to melting, anyway, under local temperatures and pressures? Not sure we've seen anything like it, even if it is technically feasible given enough happenstance setups by geology(/exo-geology), since planets formed. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.152|172.70.91.152]] 09:16, 14 May 2023 (UTC)

== Title Text-Radiation ==

The title text is referring to the heat created by natural radioactive decay, not humans harnessing it in reactors.

The literal rocks of particularly radioactive elements still in the ground are constantly producing small amounts of heat without our assistance

[[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.48|172.71.151.48]] 06:27, 14 May 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2775: Siphon

2023-05-14T23:48:20Z

TianHanFei: my fault

My understanding was that siphoning can essentially be explained by the Bernoulli equation? There is a difference in potential energy between the upper and lower container so it flows. The weight of water in the downhill part of the tube pulls water up the uphill section of the tube (think like a vacuum), and so on until there's either no difference in head or no more water. Siphoning will work with any diameter tube. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.151|172.70.91.151]] 15:43, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:That's right. The only mention of capillary action in the siphon wikipedia article is when talking about phenomenon that *isn't* a siphon. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:15, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Agree, capillary action does not seem to be referenced or implied in the comic, presenting only the (not "functioning") siphon phenomenon. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.134.142|172.68.134.142]] 16:23, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:Seconded/thirded. Capillary action isn't even what they were expecting. The small amount of water in the lowe receptical indicates they correctly ''filled'' the tube, but then as the longer length drained it did not then induce further flow up and over through the shorter length. e.g. nature no longer abhored the resulting vacuum (or there was increased negative-pressure vapourisation, beyond that previously expected, or other method of seepage 'airlock'-breaking) and thus the short-end also drained straight back out again instead of becoming a potentially self-sustaining inflow to the whole siphoning setup.
::If the upper end got restricted (say by touching the side of the bucket) the loss of flow would allow air to enter the bottom end and drain out the tube. I've done this. :-( [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 19:07, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:::Indeed, even having an especially large diameter "tube" (/pipe etc) can allow air from the bottom to flow up to the peak & break the siphon effect. For reliable results, the lower end needs to be kept immersed or the hose needs to be relatively small in diameter. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:11, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
:While the capilliary action element ''could'' induce the start of a rather limited 'empty' siphon setup to start (maybe, I'd have doubts about the 'fluid friction' actually acting against the gravity-feed part, once the surface-tension bit has "climbed the mountain" and started to merely seep out of the other end, almost incidentally, for a sufficiently thin tubing where CA is a significant factor), this suddenly failing for whatever reason (surface-tension effects being nullified) wouldn't then send a token amount of water into the low bucket, nor particularly stop unrelated siphon-flow from continuing properly (in fact, suddenly 'interaction-free' liquid and tubing might siphon ''faster'', with effectively zero fluid boundary effects dragging on the induced flow).
:But perhaps someone with more QFD experience could explain where my assessment is wrong. So not going to personally rewrite the current Explanation intro just now. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.161|172.70.162.161]] 16:21, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
:I'd like to contribute as one more data point. I also don't see capillary action as being relevant. In particular, as another commenter said, the water in the lower bucket quite clearly supports the idea that the siphon effect was the subject of the characters' confusion. How else is Randall supposed to depict the siphon effect anyway? I agree that the drawing alone ''could'' also suggest capillary action is what's being investigated, but I don't think it suggests that the caption has ''incorrectly'' referred to it as the siphon effect. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.100|172.71.254.100]] 18:44, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Of course, if some physical law would actually stop working, people wouldn't be confused. They would drop dead. Due to physical laws working on level of elementary particles, every change would have lot of different effects ... and living organism live only thanks to being very carefully balanced in lot of regards. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 20:49, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Bug report 6EQUJ5: Odd signal emitted from Sagittarius constellation. Status: Closed - could not reproduce. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.69|172.71.26.69]] 03:20, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

Siphoning is NOT because of capillary action! That should be changed!! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.90|172.70.127.90]] 15:35, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

I guess I was wrong that siphons work because of capillary action.

== Potential inspiration ==

One potential source of inspiration for this comic is the Twitter [https://twitter.com/earth_updates account @Earth_Updates], which produces a lot of similar content. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 19:54, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

I think if I added it to the article body it would get reverted, but the content seems very similar to how AI media produced delusional worlds for so many factions of people. It is not at all a big stretch to imagine people stepping into a metaverse or matrix where they aren’t sure what is real and physical laws match their intuition more than is actually correct. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.171|162.158.158.171]] 08:23, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

== Title text ==

Isn't the title text about stars like our sun rather than about plutonium? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.95|198.41.242.95]] 00:55, 13 May 2023 (UTC)h
:Seems to me unlikely that anyone would refer to stars as 'rocks'.[[User:Catherine|Catherine]] ([[User talk:Catherine|talk]]) 02:54, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
::There is Slate that turn into lava spontaneously after lying around for thousands of years. I think the area they are in is called "Smoking Hills". There was recent research why that slate does this while in much the rest of the world slate is just flat, black rocks. I still believe this title text is about plutonium, though, as that slate produces so much heat, that one still hasn't managed to measure how hot it gets - but it produces that heat not for an near-infinite duration.--[[User:Gunterkoenigsmann|Gunterkoenigsmann]] ([[User talk:Gunterkoenigsmann|talk]]) 01:48, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
:::The only {{w|Smoking Hills}} that came to mind was natural shale-fires (chemical burning, and not hot enough for remelting to magma/lava.
:::Possibly there is a {{w|natural nuclear fission reactor|situation}} where it has done as you say (in some natural mass of rock, spotted somewhere in this planet's lithosphere, or elsewhere out there), but given the fine line between nicely sustaining and runaway chain-reactions, I'm not sure how easy it is for nature to 'engineer' a way to land on the {{w|Corium (nuclear reactor)|middle ground}} and not go supercritical.
:::In order for accumulating ores to not just start a low-level fizzle (as above), over millenia, you might need separate ore-patches either side of a fault to come together in a suddenish techtonic slip, rather than a slow buckling of layers to increase effective ore-densities. And then you've got earthquakes, already, so not sure if the very low-grade nuclear explosion that is awfully close to being possible in this chance contrived example (at one end of the probability curve, unless U238 content is somehow preferentially leached out?) is going to be noticable.
:::But ''just'' hot enough for lava? If not already close to melting, anyway, under local temperatures and pressures? Not sure we've seen anything like it, even if it is technically feasible given enough happenstance setups by geology(/exo-geology), since planets formed. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.152|172.70.91.152]] 09:16, 14 May 2023 (UTC)

== Title Text-Radiation ==

The title text is referring to the heat created by natural radioactive decay, not humans harnessing it in reactors.

The literal rocks of particularly radioactive elements still in the ground are constantly producing small amounts of heat without our assistance

[[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.48|172.71.151.48]] 06:27, 14 May 2023 (UTC)

2775: Siphon

2023-05-12T15:06:47Z

TianHanFei:

{{comic
| number = 2775
| date = May 12, 2023
| title = Siphon
| image = siphon_2x.png
| imagesize = 310x378px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball and Megan have the rudimentary components for a demonstration of {{w|capillary action}}, or the ability of a liquid to flow through narrow spaces, usually upwards (against gravity). Capillary action is rather commonplace in modern society (at least, as far as scientific oddities are concerned) due to being the idea behind the comic's eponymous {{w|siphons}}. The current scientific consensus surrounding this phenomenon is it is caused by a combination of surface tension (attraction of liquid molecules to each other) and adhesive forces between the liquid and the tube, working in tandem to propel the liquid through the tube. Randall has also mentioned siphons in his book, "how to," section "how to make a pool."

Apparently, even though Cueball and Megan have probably set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates capillary action by flowing from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," meaning that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird in retrospect that scientists had ever tried to rationalise this admittedly counterintuitive phenomenon in the first place.

The pnuchline of the comic is in the caption, which delivers a piece of physics news that the "2023 update to the universe" finally fixed capillary action, dubbed "the siphon bug" in this caption. The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic to a video game, and that capillary action (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug unintentionally created by the "devs" (whoever that may be). In reality, capillary action still very much exists in our universe,{{citation needed}} though {{w|simulation hypothesis|the idea that we live in a computer simulation}} is also prevalent in {{w|the matrix|our modern pop culture}}.

The title text expands on the joke surrounding the idea of an "Earth dev log" by referencing {{w|nuclear power}}, and how it's apparently another bug that some nuclear elements (notably {{w|uranium}} and {{w|plutonium}}, among others) can and have been harnessed by humanity in order to generate virtually infinite amounts of energy, all while the elements themselves are simply sitting there in the core of some {{w|nuclear reactor}}.

This kind of a joke in the title text was also the idea of [[2115: Plutonium]].
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Cueball: Wow, it's true—the water doesn't flow up the tube anymore.
:Megan: Honestly, it's weird that it ever did.
:Megan: Why did we think that was normal?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics news: The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug.

{{comic discussion}}

2775: Siphon

2023-05-12T15:06:06Z

TianHanFei: bruh

{{comic
| number = 2775
| date = May 12, 2023
| title = Siphon
| image = siphon_2x.png
| imagesize = 310x378px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball and Megan have the rudimentary components for a demonstration of {{w|capillary action}}, or the ability of a liquid to flow through narrow spaces, usually upwards (against gravity). Capillary action is rather commonplace in modern society (at least, as far as scientific oddities are concerned) due to being the idea behind the comic's eponymous {{w|siphons}}. The current scientific consensus surrounding this phenomenon is it is caused by a combination of surface tension (attraction of liquid molecules to each other) and adhesive forces between the liquid and the tube, working in tandem to propel the liquid through the tube. Randall has also mentioned siphons in his book, "how to," section "how to make a pool."

Apparently, even though Cueball and Megan have probably set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates capillary action by flowing from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," meaning that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird in retrospect that scientists had ever tried to rationalise this admittedly counterintuitive phenomenon in the first place.

The pnuchline of the comic is in the caption, which delivers a piece of physics news that the "2023 update to the universe" finally fixed capillary action, dubbed "the siphon bug" in this caption. The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic to a video game, and that capillary action (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug unintentionally created by the "devs" (whoever that may be). In reality, capillary action still very much exists in our universe,{{citation needed}} though {{w|simulation hypothesis|the idea that we live in a computer simulation}} is also prevalent in {{w|the matrix|our modern pop culture}}.

The title text expands on the joke surrounding the idea of an "Earth dev log" by referencing {{w|nuclear power}}, and how some nuclear elements (notably {{w|uranium}} and {{w|plutonium}}, among others) can and have been harnessed by humanity in order to generate virtually infinite amounts of energy, all while the elements themselves are simply sitting there in the core of some {{w|nuclear reactor}}.

This kind of a joke in the title text was also the idea of [[2115: Plutonium]].
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Cueball: Wow, it's true—the water doesn't flow up the tube anymore.
:Megan: Honestly, it's weird that it ever did.
:Megan: Why did we think that was normal?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics news: The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug.

{{comic discussion}}

2775: Siphon

2023-05-12T15:05:21Z

TianHanFei: nitpicking

{{comic
| number = 2775
| date = May 12, 2023
| title = Siphon
| image = siphon_2x.png
| imagesize = 310x378px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball and Megan have the rudimentary components for a demonstration of {{w|capillary action}}, or the ability of a liquid to flow through narrow spaces, usually upwards (against gravity). Capillary action is rather commonplace in modern society (at least, as far as scientific oddities are concerned) due to being the idea behind the comic's eponymous {{w|siphons}}. The current scientific consensus surrounding this phenomenon is it is caused by a combination of surface tension (attraction of liquid molecules to each other) and adhesive forces between the liquid and the tube, working in tandem to propel the liquid through the tube. Randall has also mentioned siphons in his book, "how to," section "how to make a pool."

Apparently, even though Cueball and Megan have probably set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates capillary action by flowing from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," meaning that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird in retrospect that scientists had ever tried to rationalise this admittedly counterintuitive phenomenon in the first place.

The pnuchline of the comic is in the caption, which delivers a piece of physics news that the "2023 update to the universe" finally fixed capillary action, dubbed "the siphon bug" in this caption. The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic to a video game, and that capillary action (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug unintentionally created by the "devs" (whoever that may be). In reality, capillary action still very much exists in our universe,{{citation needed}} though {{w|simulation hypothesis|the idea that we live in a computer simulation}} is also prevalent in our {{w|the matrix|modern pop culture}}.

The title text expands on the joke surrounding the idea of an "Earth dev log" by referencing {{w|nuclear power}}, and how some nuclear elements (notably {{w|uranium}} and {{w|plutonium}}, among others) can and have been harnessed by humanity in order to generate virtually infinite amounts of energy, all while the elements themselves are simply sitting there in the core of some {{w|nuclear reactor}}.

This kind of a joke in the title text was also the idea of [[2115: Plutonium]].
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Cueball: Wow, it's true—the water doesn't flow up the tube anymore.
:Megan: Honestly, it's weird that it ever did.
:Megan: Why did we think that was normal?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics news: The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug.

{{comic discussion}}

2775: Siphon

2023-05-12T15:02:58Z

TianHanFei: more clear

{{comic
| number = 2775
| date = May 12, 2023
| title = Siphon
| image = siphon_2x.png
| imagesize = 310x378px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball and Megan have the rudimentary components for a demonstration of {{w|capillary action}}, or the ability of a liquid to flow through narrow spaces, usually upwards (against gravity). Capillary action is rather commonplace in modern society (at least, as far as scientific oddities are concerned) due to being the idea behind the comic's eponymous {{w|siphons}}. The current scientific consensus surrounding this phenomenon is it is caused by a combination of surface tension (attraction of liquid molecules to each other) and adhesive forces between the liquid and the tube, working in tandem to propel the liquid through the tube. Randall has also mentioned siphons in his book, "how to," section "how to make a pool."

Apparently, even though Cueball and Megan have probably set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates capillary action by flowing from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," meaning that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird in retrospect that scientists had ever tried to rationalise this admittedly counterintuitive phenomenon in the first place.

The pnuchline of the comic is in the caption, which delivers a piece of physics news that the "2023 update to the universe" finally fixed capillary action, dubbed "the siphon bug" in this caption. The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic to a video game, and that capillary action (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug unintentionally created by the "devs" (whoever that may be). In reality, capillary action still very much exists in our universe,{{citation needed}} though the {{w|simulation hypothesis|idea that we live in a computer simulation}} is also prevalent in our {{w|the matrix|modern pop culture}}.

The title text expands on the joke surrounding the idea of an "Earth dev log" by referencing {{w|nuclear power}}, and how some nuclear elements (notably {{w|uranium}} and {{w|plutonium}}, among others) can and have been harnessed by humanity in order to generate virtually infinite amounts of energy, all while the elements themselves are simply sitting there in the core of some {{w|nuclear reactor}}.

This kind of a joke in the title text was also the idea of [[2115: Plutonium]].
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Cueball: Wow, it's true—the water doesn't flow up the tube anymore.
:Megan: Honestly, it's weird that it ever did.
:Megan: Why did we think that was normal?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics news: The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug.

{{comic discussion}}

2775: Siphon

2023-05-12T15:01:13Z

TianHanFei: elaboration on the how to thing from the initial edit to this page

{{comic
| number = 2775
| date = May 12, 2023
| title = Siphon
| image = siphon_2x.png
| imagesize = 310x378px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball and Megan have the rudimentary components for a demonstration of {{w|capillary action}}, or the ability of a liquid to flow through narrow spaces, usually upwards (against gravity). Capillary action is rather commonplace in modern society due to being the idea behind the comic's eponymous {{w|siphons}}. The current scientific consensus surrounding this phenomenon is it is caused by a combination of surface tension (attraction of liquid molecules to each other) and adhesive forces between the liquid and the tube, working in tandem to propel the liquid through the tube. Randall has also mentioned siphons in his book, "how to," section "how to make a pool."

Apparently, even though the two have probably set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates capillary action by flowing from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," meaning that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird in retrospect that scientists had ever tried to rationalise this admittedly counterintuitive phenomenon in the first place.

The pnuchline of the comic is in the caption, which delivers a piece of physics news that the "2023 update to the universe" finally fixed capillary action, dubbed "the siphon bug" in this caption. The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic to a video game, and that capillary action (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug unintentionally created by the "devs" (whoever that may be). In reality, capillary action still very much exists in our universe,{{citation needed}} though the {{w|simulation hypothesis|idea that we live in a computer simulation}} is also prevalent in our {{w|the matrix|modern pop culture}}.

The title text expands on the joke surrounding the idea of an "Earth dev log" by referencing {{w|nuclear power}}, and how some nuclear elements (notably {{w|uranium}} and {{w|plutonium}}, among others) can and have been harnessed by humanity in order to generate virtually infinite amounts of energy, all while the elements themselves are simply sitting there in the core of some {{w|nuclear reactor}}.

This kind of a joke in the title text was also the idea of [[2115: Plutonium]].
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Cueball: Wow, it's true—the water doesn't flow up the tube anymore.
:Megan: Honestly, it's weird that it ever did.
:Megan: Why did we think that was normal?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics news: The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug.

{{comic discussion}}

2775: Siphon

2023-05-12T15:00:07Z

TianHanFei: elaboration on title

{{comic
| number = 2775
| date = May 12, 2023
| title = Siphon
| image = siphon_2x.png
| imagesize = 310x378px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball and Megan have the rudimentary components for a demonstration of {{w|capillary action}}, or the ability of a liquid to flow through narrow spaces, usually upwards (against gravity). Capillary action is rather commonplace in modern society due to being the idea behind the comic's eponymous {{w|siphons}}. The current scientific consensus surrounding this phenomenon is it is caused by a combination of surface tension (attraction of liquid molecules to each other) and adhesive forces between the liquid and the tube, working in tandem to propel the liquid through the tube. Randall has also mentioned siphons in his book, "how to."

Apparently, even though the two have probably set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates capillary action by flowing from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," meaning that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird in retrospect that scientists had ever tried to rationalise this admittedly counterintuitive phenomenon in the first place.

The pnuchline of the comic is in the caption, which delivers a piece of physics news that the "2023 update to the universe" finally fixed capillary action, dubbed "the siphon bug" in this caption. The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic to a video game, and that capillary action (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug unintentionally created by the "devs" (whoever that may be). In reality, capillary action still very much exists in our universe,{{citation needed}} though the {{w|simulation hypothesis|idea that we live in a computer simulation}} is also prevalent in our {{w|the matrix|modern pop culture}}.

The title text expands on the joke surrounding the idea of an "Earth dev log" by referencing {{w|nuclear power}}, and how some nuclear elements (notably {{w|uranium}} and {{w|plutonium}}, among others) can and have been harnessed by humanity in order to generate virtually infinite amounts of energy, all while the elements themselves are simply sitting there in the core of some {{w|nuclear reactor}}.

This kind of a joke in the title text was also the idea of [[2115: Plutonium]].
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Cueball: Wow, it's true—the water doesn't flow up the tube anymore.
:Megan: Honestly, it's weird that it ever did.
:Megan: Why did we think that was normal?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics news: The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug.

{{comic discussion}}

2775: Siphon

2023-05-12T14:57:41Z

TianHanFei: unclear wording

{{comic
| number = 2775
| date = May 12, 2023
| title = Siphon
| image = siphon_2x.png
| imagesize = 310x378px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball and Megan have the rudimentary components for a demonstration of {{w|capillary action}}, or the ability of a liquid to flow through narrow spaces, usually upwards (against gravity). The current scientific consensus surrounding this phenomenon is it is caused by a combination of surface tension (attraction of liquid molecules to each other) and adhesive forces between the liquid and the tube, working in tandem to propel the liquid through the tube. Randall has also mentioned the eponymous siphons in his book, "how to."

Apparently, even though the two have probably set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates capillary action by flowing from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," meaning that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird in retrospect that scientists had ever tried to rationalise this admittedly counterintuitive phenomenon in the first place.

The pnuchline of the comic is in the caption, which delivers a piece of physics news that the "2023 update to the universe" finally fixed capillary action, dubbed "the siphon bug" in this caption. The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic to a video game, and that capillary action (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug unintentionally created by the "devs" (whoever that may be). In reality, capillary action still very much exists in our universe,{{citation needed}} though the {{w|simulation hypothesis|idea that we live in a computer simulation}} is also prevalent in our {{w|the matrix|modern pop culture}}.

The title text expands on the joke surrounding the idea of an "Earth dev log" by referencing {{w|nuclear power}}, and how some nuclear elements (notably {{w|uranium}} and {{w|plutonium}}, among others) can and have been harnessed by humanity in order to generate virtually infinite amounts of energy, all while the elements themselves are simply sitting there in the core of some {{w|nuclear reactor}}.

This kind of a joke in the title text was also the idea of [[2115: Plutonium]].
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Cueball: Wow, it's true—the water doesn't flow up the tube anymore.
:Megan: Honestly, it's weird that it ever did.
:Megan: Why did we think that was normal?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics news: The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug.

{{comic discussion}}

2775: Siphon

2023-05-12T14:56:51Z

TianHanFei: explanation

{{comic
| number = 2775
| date = May 12, 2023
| title = Siphon
| image = siphon_2x.png
| imagesize = 310x378px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball and Megan have the rudimentary components for a demonstration of {{w|capillary action}}, or the ability of a liquid to flow through narrow spaces, usually upwards (against gravity). The current scientific consensus surrounding this phenomenon is it is caused by a combination of surface tension (attraction of liquid molecules to each other) and adhesive forces between the liquid and the tube, working in tandem to propel the liquid through the tube. Randall has also mentioned the eponymous siphons in his book, "how to."

Apparently, even though the two have probably set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates capillary action and flows from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," meaning that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird in retrospect that scientists had ever tried to rationalise this admittedly counterintuitive phenomenon in the first place.

The pnuchline of the comic is in the caption, which delivers a piece of physics news that the "2023 update to the universe" finally fixed capillary action, dubbed "the siphon bug" in this caption. The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic to a video game, and that capillary action (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug unintentionally created by the "devs" (whoever that may be). In reality, capillary action still very much exists in our universe,{{citation needed}} though the {{w|simulation hypothesis|idea that we live in a computer simulation}} is also prevalent in our {{w|the matrix|modern pop culture}}.

The title text expands on the joke surrounding the idea of an "Earth dev log" by referencing {{w|nuclear power}}, and how some nuclear elements (notably {{w|uranium}} and {{w|plutonium}}, among others) can and have been harnessed by humanity in order to generate virtually infinite amounts of energy, all while the elements themselves are simply sitting there in the core of some {{w|nuclear reactor}}.

This kind of a joke in the title text was also the idea of [[2115: Plutonium]].
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Cueball: Wow, it's true—the water doesn't flow up the tube anymore.
:Megan: Honestly, it's weird that it ever did.
:Megan: Why did we think that was normal?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics news: The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug.

{{comic discussion}}

2773: Planetary Scientist

2023-05-08T18:18:44Z

TianHanFei: fixed changed minor

{{comic
| number = 2773
| date = May 8, 2023
| title = Planetary Scientist
| image = planetary_scientist_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x349px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This rumpled fabric at the corner looks like evidence of ongoing tectonic activity.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT THAT'S PROBABLY FULL OF WATER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Ponytail, a {{w|planetary scientist}}, is shopping at a mattress store. The store cleark seems to be giving her a guided tour of various models of mattress, including the most popular model shown in the comic.

Ponytail asks if the bed is a {{w|waterbed}}, a type of mattress which is filled with water instead of the usual solid material. The clerk begins to explain to her that it's actually a hybrid made of foam (among other things, maybe water), but Ponytail interrupts him, saying that she believes it actually is a waterbed based on "how it moves."

The comic caption reveals the punchline, that because {{w|planetary oceanography|subsurface oceans}} have become so ubiquitous in the study of planetary science (especially because they serve as an indicator for the potential for life on another planet), Ponytail is starting to see them ''everywhere'', even in clearly unrelated contexts such as mattresses. Here, the water in the waterbed is analogous to a planet's subsurface ocean (i.e. both being water underneath a solid outer layer).

The title text goes in a similar direction with planetary science, having Ponytail tell the now-confused clerk that the rumpled fabric on one part of the bed seems like "evidence of ongoing tectonic activity," referencing {{w|plate tectonics}} and how protruding geographic formations (such as mountains) are formed through it. Again, the punchline is the relentless permeation of Ponytail's occupation into her everyday life.
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

2773: Planetary Scientist

2023-05-08T18:13:42Z

TianHanFei: italics

{{comic
| number = 2773
| date = May 8, 2023
| title = Planetary Scientist
| image = planetary_scientist_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x349px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This rumpled fabric at the corner looks like evidence of ongoing tectonic activity.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT THAT'S PROBABLY FULL OF WATER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Ponytail, presumably a {{w|planetary scientist}}, is shopping at a mattress store. The store cleark seems to be giving her a guided tour of various models of mattress, including the most popular model shown in the comic.

Ponytail asks if the bed is a {{w|waterbed}}, a type of mattress which is filled with water instead of the usual solid material. The clerk begins to explain to her that it's actually a hybrid made of foam (among other things, maybe water), but Ponytail interrupts him, saying that she believes it actually is a waterbed based on "how it moves."

The comic caption reveals the punchline, that because {{w|subsurface oceans}} have become so ubiquitous in the study of planetary science (especially because they serve as an indicator for the potential for life on another planet), Ponytail is starting to see them ''everywhere'', even in clearly unrelated contexts such as mattresses. Here, the water in the waterbed is analogous to a planet's subsurface ocean (i.e. both being water underneath a solid outer layer).

The title text goes in a similar direction with planetary science, having Ponytail tell the now-confused clerk that the rumpled fabric on one part of the bed seems like "evidence of ongoing tectonic activity," referencing {{w|plate tectonics}} and how protruding geographic formations (such as mountains) are formed through it. Again, the punchline is the relentless permeation of Ponytail's occupation into her everyday life.
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

2773: Planetary Scientist

2023-05-08T18:12:23Z

TianHanFei: explanation

{{comic
| number = 2773
| date = May 8, 2023
| title = Planetary Scientist
| image = planetary_scientist_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x349px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This rumpled fabric at the corner looks like evidence of ongoing tectonic activity.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT THAT'S PROBABLY FULL OF WATER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Ponytail, presumably a {{w|planetary scientist}}, is shopping at a mattress store. The store cleark seems to be giving her a guided tour of various models of mattress, including the most popular model shown in the comic.

Ponytail asks if the bed is a {{w|waterbed}}, a type of mattress which is filled with water instead of the usual solid material. The clerk begins to explain to her that it's actually a hybrid made of foam (among other things, maybe water), but Ponytail interrupts him, saying that she believes it actually is a waterbed based on "how it moves."

The comic caption reveals the punchline, that because {{w|subsurface oceans}} have become so ubiquitous in the study of planetary science (especially because they serve as an indicator for the potential for life on another planet), Ponytail is starting to see them **everywhere**, even in clearly unrelated contexts such as mattresses. Here, the water in the waterbed is analogous to a planet's subsurface ocean (i.e. both being water underneath a solid outer layer).

The title text goes in a similar direction with planetary science, having Ponytail tell the now-confused clerk that the rumpled fabric on one part of the bed seems like "evidence of ongoing tectonic activity," referencing {{w|plate tectonics}} and how protruding geographic formations (such as mountains) are formed through it. Again, the punchline is the relentless permeation of Ponytail's occupation into her everyday life.
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

2771: College Knowledge

2023-05-04T14:18:04Z

TianHanFei: word choice

{{comic
| number = 2771
| date = May 3, 2023
| title = College Knowledge
| image = college_knowledge_2x.png
| imagesize = 649x266px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Your chitin armor is no match for our iron-tipped stingers! Better go hide in your jars!' --common playground taunt
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT GOING TO IO - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A common playground rhyme which children will often recite when divided by gender is that "girls go to college to get more knowledge; boys go to {{w|Jupiter}} to get more stupider," with the genders being interchangeable depending on the rhyme's singer.

Starting out with this cadence, our beloved characters play jumprope and explore parts of the solar system and beyond that become increasingly obscure and less likely to feature in actual playground rhymes; meanwhile, their justifications for each visit become increasingly tenuous in order to rhyme (or "rhyme") with the destination, as with "college" or "Jupiter." So they eventually give up (and the jumproping stops accordingly).

The title text refers back to some of the rhymes the characters mention, making sure to stay consistent with whichever gender acquires which object. Speaking from the perspective of the college-bound gender, who had acquired iron ("ferrous") from {{w|Eris}}, the girls playfully threaten the boys with iron-tipped {{w|stingers}}, for which the boys' armour of {{w|chitin}} (a material commonly found on the exoskeletons of various insects, along with stingers themselves) is purportedly no match. The girls then also refer to the jars which the boys had acquired from {{w|Mars}}, telling the boys that they'd better hide in them if they wanted any sort of protection from the iron-tipped stingers. To top it all off, the title text finally claims that this is supposedly a "common playground taunt" among children (which itself depends on the rhymes which the characters in the comic had made).

In [[1202: Girls and Boys]], boys and girls both go to college ''and'' to Jupiter.

==Note==

{{w|Chitin}} is a polysaccharide found in the bodies of insects and fungi.

{{w|Tim Berners-Lee}} is the inventor of the World Wide Web.

{{w|Pamplemousse}} is the French word for grapefruit or pomelo, depending on dialect.

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

:[Science Girl, Ponytail and Cueball are playing jump-rope while singing a common playground song. Science Girl and Cueball are swinging the ends of the rope, Ponytail is jumping in the middle.]
:Science Girl: Girls go to college to get more knowledge
:Science Girl: Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider

:Cueball: Girls go to Ceres to get more theories
:Cueball: Boys go to Mars to get more jars

:Ponytail: Girls go to Eris to get more ferrous
:Ponytail: Boys go to Triton to get more chitin

:[The three have stopped playing.]
:Science Girl: Girls go to...Mercury...to...meet Tim Berners-Lee
:Science Girl: Boys go to... ...Betelgeuse...to get more... ...pamplemousse
:Cueball: I think we're done.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Food]]

2771: College Knowledge

2023-05-04T14:17:15Z

TianHanFei: punctuation

{{comic
| number = 2771
| date = May 3, 2023
| title = College Knowledge
| image = college_knowledge_2x.png
| imagesize = 649x266px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Your chitin armor is no match for our iron-tipped stingers! Better go hide in your jars!' --common playground taunt
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT GOING TO IO - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A common playground rhyme which children will often recite when divided by gender is that "girls go to college to get more knowledge; boys go to {{w|Jupiter}} to get more stupider," with the genders being interchangeable depending on the rhyme's singer.

Starting out with this cadence, our beloved characters play jumprope and explore parts of the solar system and beyond that become increasingly obscure and less likely to feature in actual playground rhymes; meanwhile, their justifications for each visit become increasingly tenuous in order to rhyme (or "rhyme") with the destination, as with "college" or "Jupiter." So they give up (and the jumproping stops accordingly).

The title text refers back to some of the rhymes the characters mention, making sure to stay consistent with whichever gender acquires which object. Speaking from the perspective of the college-bound gender, who had acquired iron ("ferrous") from {{w|Eris}}, the girls playfully threaten the boys with iron-tipped {{w|stingers}}, for which the boys' armour of {{w|chitin}} (a material commonly found on the exoskeletons of various insects, along with stingers themselves) is purportedly no match. The girls then also refer to the jars which the boys had acquired from {{w|Mars}}, telling the boys that they'd better hide in them if they wanted any sort of protection from the iron-tipped stingers. To top it all off, the title text finally claims that this is supposedly a "common playground taunt" among children (which itself depends on the rhymes which the characters in the comic had made).

In [[1202: Girls and Boys]], boys and girls both go to college ''and'' to Jupiter.

==Note==

{{w|Chitin}} is a polysaccharide found in the bodies of insects and fungi.

{{w|Tim Berners-Lee}} is the inventor of the World Wide Web.

{{w|Pamplemousse}} is the French word for grapefruit or pomelo, depending on dialect.

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

:[Science Girl, Ponytail and Cueball are playing jump-rope while singing a common playground song. Science Girl and Cueball are swinging the ends of the rope, Ponytail is jumping in the middle.]
:Science Girl: Girls go to college to get more knowledge
:Science Girl: Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider

:Cueball: Girls go to Ceres to get more theories
:Cueball: Boys go to Mars to get more jars

:Ponytail: Girls go to Eris to get more ferrous
:Ponytail: Boys go to Triton to get more chitin

:[The three have stopped playing.]
:Science Girl: Girls go to...Mercury...to...meet Tim Berners-Lee
:Science Girl: Boys go to... ...Betelgeuse...to get more... ...pamplemousse
:Cueball: I think we're done.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Food]]

2771: College Knowledge

2023-05-04T14:16:46Z

TianHanFei: further explanation and title text

{{comic
| number = 2771
| date = May 3, 2023
| title = College Knowledge
| image = college_knowledge_2x.png
| imagesize = 649x266px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Your chitin armor is no match for our iron-tipped stingers! Better go hide in your jars!' --common playground taunt
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT GOING TO IO - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A common playground rhyme which children will often recite when divided by gender is that "girls go to college to get more knowledge, boys go to {{w|Jupiter}} to get more stupider," with the genders being interchangeable depending on the rhyme's singer.

Starting out with this cadence, our beloved characters play jumprope and explore parts of the solar system and beyond that become increasingly obscure and less likely to feature in actual playground rhymes; meanwhile, their justifications for each visit become increasingly tenuous in order to rhyme (or "rhyme") with the destination, as with "college" or "Jupiter." So they give up (and the jumproping stops accordingly).

The title text refers back to some of the rhymes the characters mention, making sure to stay consistent with whichever gender acquires which object. Speaking from the perspective of the college-bound gender, who had acquired iron ("ferrous") from {{w|Eris}}, the girls playfully threaten the boys with iron-tipped {{w|stingers}}, for which the boys' armour of {{w|chitin}} (a material commonly found on the exoskeletons of various insects, along with stingers themselves) is purportedly no match. The girls then also refer to the jars which the boys had acquired from {{w|Mars}}, telling the boys that they'd better hide in them if they wanted any sort of protection from the iron-tipped stingers. To top it all off, the title text finally claims that this is supposedly a "common playground taunt" among children (which itself depends on the rhymes which the characters in the comic had made).

In [[1202: Girls and Boys]], boys and girls both go to college ''and'' to Jupiter.

==Note==

{{w|Chitin}} is a polysaccharide found in the bodies of insects and fungi.

{{w|Tim Berners-Lee}} is the inventor of the World Wide Web.

{{w|Pamplemousse}} is the French word for grapefruit or pomelo, depending on dialect.

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

:[Science Girl, Ponytail and Cueball are playing jump-rope while singing a common playground song. Science Girl and Cueball are swinging the ends of the rope, Ponytail is jumping in the middle.]
:Science Girl: Girls go to college to get more knowledge
:Science Girl: Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider

:Cueball: Girls go to Ceres to get more theories
:Cueball: Boys go to Mars to get more jars

:Ponytail: Girls go to Eris to get more ferrous
:Ponytail: Boys go to Triton to get more chitin

:[The three have stopped playing.]
:Science Girl: Girls go to...Mercury...to...meet Tim Berners-Lee
:Science Girl: Boys go to... ...Betelgeuse...to get more... ...pamplemousse
:Cueball: I think we're done.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Food]]

2755: Effect Size

2023-03-28T16:00:16Z

TianHanFei: extra figure

{{comic
| number = 2755
| date = March 27, 2023
| title = Effect Size
| image = effect_size_2x.png
| imagesize = 278x366px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Subgroup analysis is ongoing.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Meta-Meta-Meta Analysis - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic outlines a {{w|meta-analysis}}, or more aptly THE meta-analysis, as its inclusion criteria are simply all studies.

A meta-analysis, true to its name, is a statistical analysis of statistical analyses, usually those attempting to answer a single question. Meta-analyses are intended to account for possible individual error within each study, summarizing the general results of all of its studies in order to potentially draw a useful conclusion.

Here, the meta-analysis consists of a graph of {{w|effect sizes}} for what is allegedly every single study ever conducted. Accordingly, even page 53,589 of the meta-analysis is only about a quarter of the total graph (approx. 210,000 pages) Below is an estimate of the average effect (the effect normally being the relationship being analyzed by the studies within a meta-analysis, though here it seems again to just be a conglomerate of all known effects), along with a (likely) 95% {{w|confidence interval}} for the findings of the meta-analysis.

Statistical studies are produced by generating hypotheses then testing those hypotheses. A meta-analysis of all studies would therefore include both studies where the original hypothesis turns out to be false, as well as studies where the original hypothesis is confirmed. Hypotheses that fail to be confirmed by studies are often discarded, however these studies would still be included in THE meta-analysis. The meta-analysis, therefore, could be considered to be confirming our intuition that a lot of hypotheses that scientists come up with are false.

In the caption, Randall delivers to us the bad news: that the meta-analysis of "all of science" has finally been performed, and as it turns out, the results are not significant. {{w|Statistical significance}} is the degree to which the results of a sample or study are likely due to a correlation, as opposed to chance or {{w|sampling variation}} alone. Apparently, across the entirety of human science in the study of our universe, the study has found a lack of significance, or a relationship between any two variables ever.

The joke lies in the absurdity of the claim, that "all of science" can be analyzed at all. Science is not a singular term that can be subcategorized in such a manner, but hundreds of different fields of study, many of which have little or no overlap. Doing a meta-analysis of geology and philosophy, for example, would be patently ridiculous, so the 53,589 (or 210,000) page study is comical in its very existence, much less conclusion.

In the title text, Randall reports that {{w|subgroup analysis}} is ongoing. The joke here is that since all scientific studies are subsets of the overall meta-analysis, every scientific endeavor can be separately assessed by correctly constraining the subgroup to include only relevant studies. Hence the subgroup analysis could be considered to include analyses of every individual area or question that scientists have made subject to statistical studies.

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

:Meta-analysis
:Inclusion criteria: All studies

:[A forest plot is shown. In the tab on the top right, there is a label "Page 53,589". On the right side of the plot, there is a vertical scrollbar where the bar is less than one quarter from the top. A horizontal axis centered on 0 is shown at the bottom and -1 and +1 on either side are labeled. In the middle of the plot, there is a dashed vertical line. On both sides of the vertical line in separate rows, there are black boxes of different sizes with horizontal bars of varying lengths on the sides of the boxes. Below the plot, slightly to the right of the vertical line, there is a black diamond wider than it is tall, labeled "0.17 (-0.14, 0.52)".]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Bad news: They finally did a meta-analysis of all science, and it turns out it's not significant.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Statistics]]

2754: Relative Terms

2023-03-27T16:56:24Z

TianHanFei: this was my initial interpretation idk

{{comic
| number = 2754
| date = March 24, 2023
| title = Relative Terms
| image = relative_terms_2x.png
| imagesize = 425x442px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Small sewing machines are sewing machines that are smaller than a sewing machine. A sewing machine is larger than a small sewing machine, but quieter than a loud sewing machine.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT THAT IS LARGER THAN A BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The terms "small" and "big" are used to refer to size; the terms "loud" and "quiet" are used to refer to (audial) volume.

While these terms are relative, they are often used even when there is nothing obvious being compared against (e.g. "A windmill is a big thing" or "An ant is a small thing"). This comic humorously suggests that the item defined to be in the middle of all four terms ("neither small nor big; neither quiet nor loud") is a sewing machine, as a sewing machine seems (at least in comparison to the other items on the graph) to be neither particularly big nor particularly small, neither particularly quiet nor particularly loud.

An alternative argument may be that the in the centre would be the average adult human (as this is the perspective from which most people use language), though this observation would lose some of the comic's comedic value.

The center of the chart is a sewing machine, and the comic is claiming that the scales of "loud and quiet" and "big and small" are measured in comparison to a standard size sewing machine. A standard sewing machine is roughly 60dB in volume and approximately 42” X 21”, although this is for industrial machines, and those in the home would be both smaller and quieter.

The title text is humorously tautological because it compares the standard against those things that are themselves defined against the standard.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Small and quiet (upper left)
|-
! Item !! Description
|-
| Ant ||
|-
| Balloon ||
|-
| Book ||
|-
| Bun (rabbit or pastry) || "Bun" is an informal term for a rabbit and a loaf of bread, this comparison was made in [[1871: Bun Alert]]
|-
| Butterfly || This entry is found on the top left corner, corresponding to the extremes of quietness and smallness. Butterflies are small and make little noise.
|-
| Hat ||
|-
| Mouse || A mouse is a very small, quiet animal. This might also be a reference to the expression "quiet as a mouse", meaning very quietly.
|-
| Newt ||
|-
| Pin drop || The expression "hear a pin drop" is used to indicate that an area is exceptionally quiet; the idea is that the space is so silent that even something as insubstantial and tiny as a pin can be heard hitting the ground.
|-
| Snow globe ||
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Small and loud (upper right)
|-
! Item !! Description
|-
| Baby || Babies are usually considered small, and can be quite loud when they cry.
|-
| Blender ||
|-
| Cricket || Top right corner. This would refer to the insect, which is pretty small and can be quite loud; the sport of cricket or a cricket game would be much larger and potentially much louder.
|-
| Fire alarm ||
|-
| Firecracker || A {{w|Firecracker}} is a small explosive firework that makes a very loud bang when lit.
|-
| Flute ||
|-
| Harmonica ||
|-
| Popcorn ||
|-
| Songbird ||
|-
| Whistle || This is of course the device known as a whistle, as it is small. The act by humans to whistle has no size. A whistle is used functionally in place of a human that wisthles. The loudest human whistle ever recorded was 8372 Hz and roughly 110 DB, which is a C9 in the standard musical scale and is roughly as loud as a jackhammer[https://www.vnews.com/West-Lebanon-man-sets-a-world-record-for-whistling-24480844#:~:text=Guinness'%20website%20says%20Stanford%20reached,in%20the%20standard%20musical%20notation.]. Since a whistle should be able to beat this it must be seen as loud.
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Big and quiet (lower left)
|-
|-
! Item !! Description
|-
| Anaconda ||
|-
| Giraffe || Giraffes can be quite loud, but they usually vocalise using frequencies well below the range of human hearing. So, to a human, giraffes are quiet.
|-
| Northern lights || "In 2016, a Finnish study confirmed that the Aurora Borealis does produce a sound that can be heard" [https://www.techexplorist.com/listen-sound-aurora-borealis/47421/]
|-
| Shark ||
|-
| Statue ||
|-
| The Moon || Lower left corner; the Moon is very, very big{{fact}}, but it is also completely quiet because sound cannot travel through the vacuum of space.
|-
| Tree ||
|-
| Windmill ||
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Big and loud (lower right)
|-
! Item !! Description
|-
| Airplane ||
|-
| Cannon ||
|-
| Riding mower ||
|-
| [[wikipedia:Calliope_(music)|Steam calliope]] || A large musical device which functions by sending steam (or more recently compressed air) through attached whistles.
|-
| Train ||
|-
| Tuba ||
|-
| Volcano || Lower right corner
|-
| Waterfall ||
|-
| Whale ||
|}

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

:[A chart, with "Quiet" to "Loud" on the X-axis, and "Small" to "Big" on the Y-axis. It is split into four quarters, with "Sewing machine" in the center.]

:[Upper left quadrant (Small & Quiet items):] Butterfly, Pin drop, Mouse, Ant, Bun (rabbit or pastry), Snow globe, Newt, Balloon, Book, Hat

:[Upper right quadrant (Small & Loud items):] Popcorn, Cricket, Songbird, Whistle, Baby, Harmonica, Flute, Fire alarm, Blender, Firecracker

:[Lower left quadrant (Big & Quiet items):] Shark, Tree, Anaconda, Giraffe, Statue, Windmill, Northern lights, The Moon

:[Lower right quadrant (Big & Loud items):] Tuba, Riding mower, Cannon, Airplane, Train, Waterfall, Steam calliope, Whale, Volcano

:[Caption below the panel:]
:''Big'', ''Small'', ''Loud'', and ''Quiet'' are relative terms. The thing they're relative to is a sewing machine.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Aviation]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Buns]]
[[Category:Sharks]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Volcanoes]]
[[Category:Food]]

2754: Relative Terms

2023-03-27T16:50:29Z

TianHanFei: expanded slightly

{{comic
| number = 2754
| date = March 24, 2023
| title = Relative Terms
| image = relative_terms_2x.png
| imagesize = 425x442px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Small sewing machines are sewing machines that are smaller than a sewing machine. A sewing machine is larger than a small sewing machine, but quieter than a loud sewing machine.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT THAT IS LARGER THAN A BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The terms "small" and "big" are used to refer to size; the terms "loud" and "quiet" are used to refer to (audial) volume.

While these terms are relative, they are often used even when there is nothing obvious being compared against (e.g. "A windmill is a big thing" or "An ant is a small thing"). This comic humorously suggests that the item defined to be in the middle of all four terms ("neither small nor big; neither quiet nor loud") is a sewing machine, as a sewing machine seems (at least in comparison to the other items on the graph) to be neither particularly big nor particularly small, neither particularly quiet nor particularly loud.

The center of the chart is a sewing machine, and the comic is claiming that the scales of "loud and quiet" and "big and small" are measured in comparison to a standard size sewing machine. A standard sewing machine is roughly 60dB in volume and approximately 42” X 21”, although this is for industrial machines, and those in the home would be both smaller and quieter.

The title text is humorously tautological because it compares the standard against those things that are themselves defined against the standard.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Small and quiet (upper left)
|-
! Item !! Description
|-
| Ant ||
|-
| Balloon ||
|-
| Book ||
|-
| Bun (rabbit or pastry) || "Bun" is an informal term for a rabbit and a loaf of bread, this comparison was made in [[1871: Bun Alert]]
|-
| Butterfly || This entry is found on the top left corner, corresponding to the extremes of quietness and smallness. Butterflies are small and make little noise.
|-
| Hat ||
|-
| Mouse || A mouse is a very small, quiet animal. This might also be a reference to the expression "quiet as a mouse", meaning very quietly.
|-
| Newt ||
|-
| Pin drop || The expression "hear a pin drop" is used to indicate that an area is exceptionally quiet; the idea is that the space is so silent that even something as insubstantial and tiny as a pin can be heard hitting the ground.
|-
| Snow globe ||
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Small and loud (upper right)
|-
! Item !! Description
|-
| Baby || Babies are usually considered small, and can be quite loud when they cry.
|-
| Blender ||
|-
| Cricket || Top right corner. This would refer to the insect, which is pretty small and can be quite loud; the sport of cricket or a cricket game would be much larger and potentially much louder.
|-
| Fire alarm ||
|-
| Firecracker || A {{w|Firecracker}} is a small explosive firework that makes a very loud bang when lit.
|-
| Flute ||
|-
| Harmonica ||
|-
| Popcorn ||
|-
| Songbird ||
|-
| Whistle || This is of course the device known as a whistle, as it is small. The act by humans to whistle has no size. A whistle is used functionally in place of a human that wisthles. The loudest human whistle ever recorded was 8372 Hz and roughly 110 DB, which is a C9 in the standard musical scale and is roughly as loud as a jackhammer[https://www.vnews.com/West-Lebanon-man-sets-a-world-record-for-whistling-24480844#:~:text=Guinness'%20website%20says%20Stanford%20reached,in%20the%20standard%20musical%20notation.]. Since a whistle should be able to beat this it must be seen as loud.
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Big and quiet (lower left)
|-
|-
! Item !! Description
|-
| Anaconda ||
|-
| Giraffe || Giraffes can be quite loud, but they usually vocalise using frequencies well below the range of human hearing. So, to a human, giraffes are quiet.
|-
| Northern lights || "In 2016, a Finnish study confirmed that the Aurora Borealis does produce a sound that can be heard" [https://www.techexplorist.com/listen-sound-aurora-borealis/47421/]
|-
| Shark ||
|-
| Statue ||
|-
| The Moon || Lower left corner; the Moon is very, very big{{fact}}, but it is also completely quiet because sound cannot travel through the vacuum of space.
|-
| Tree ||
|-
| Windmill ||
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Big and loud (lower right)
|-
! Item !! Description
|-
| Airplane ||
|-
| Cannon ||
|-
| Riding mower ||
|-
| [[wikipedia:Calliope_(music)|Steam calliope]] || A large musical device which functions by sending steam (or more recently compressed air) through attached whistles.
|-
| Train ||
|-
| Tuba ||
|-
| Volcano || Lower right corner
|-
| Waterfall ||
|-
| Whale ||
|}

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

:[A chart, with "Quiet" to "Loud" on the X-axis, and "Small" to "Big" on the Y-axis. It is split into four quarters, with "Sewing machine" in the center.]

:[Upper left quadrant (Small & Quiet items):] Butterfly, Pin drop, Mouse, Ant, Bun (rabbit or pastry), Snow globe, Newt, Balloon, Book, Hat

:[Upper right quadrant (Small & Loud items):] Popcorn, Cricket, Songbird, Whistle, Baby, Harmonica, Flute, Fire alarm, Blender, Firecracker

:[Lower left quadrant (Big & Quiet items):] Shark, Tree, Anaconda, Giraffe, Statue, Windmill, Northern lights, The Moon

:[Lower right quadrant (Big & Loud items):] Tuba, Riding mower, Cannon, Airplane, Train, Waterfall, Steam calliope, Whale, Volcano

:[Caption below the panel:]
:''Big'', ''Small'', ''Loud'', and ''Quiet'' are relative terms. The thing they're relative to is a sewing machine.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Aviation]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Buns]]
[[Category:Sharks]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Volcanoes]]
[[Category:Food]]

2755: Effect Size

2023-03-27T16:43:52Z

TianHanFei: word choice again

2755: Effect Size

2023-03-27T16:43:06Z

TianHanFei: word choice

2755: Effect Size

2023-03-27T16:42:29Z

TianHanFei: explanation

2752: Salt Dome

2023-03-20T23:10:00Z

TianHanFei: overburden pressure

{{comic
| number = 2752
| date = March 20, 2023
| title = Salt Dome
| image = salt_dome_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x338px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The US uses hollowed-out salt domes to store the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and non-hollowed-out ones to store the Strategic Salt Reserve.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by Tsunami or Tidal Wave - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic refers to how downwards pressure in one area of the world can cause upwards pressure in another, causing {{w|salt domes}} to rise up.

In the comic, [[Beret Guy]] and [[Ponytail]] are sitting at a table and eating dinner, alongside [[Cueball]], who is presumably a {{w|geologist}}. Thus, when asked to "pass the salt," Cueball, with his extensive professional knowledge of the Earth's crust and its interactions with the surface world, is aware of this phenomenon, and as such is stomping on his chair in order to create downward pressure on the ground beneath. This apparently works exactly as intended, as a salt dome begins rising out of the floor and even begins to break through the dinner table. The caption humorously remarks that this is what will happen if you ask any geologist to "pass the salt," which conventionally means to simply hand a salt shaker or dispenser to another diner who cannot reach it (and a salt shaker can indeed be seen on their table).

Cueball also mentions {{w|overburden pressure}}, a geological term referring to the pressure that outer layers of rock exert on inner layers. This is what usually causes the rising of salt domes, though Cueball is employing it to an absurd degree here.

In the title text, the {{w|Strategic Petroleum Reserve}} is a United States government reserve of oil in case of emergencies. Randall observes the actually true fact that artificial caves within hollowed-out salt domes create the spaces for the government to store this oil. However, he then makes the not-quite-absurd, but still amusing remark that in turn, the fictional{{citation needed}} Strategic Salt Reserve simply consists of completely-intact salt domes, which obviously means they are full of salt and as such serve their function as a salt reserve perfectly.

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

:[Beret Guy and ponytail are sitting at a table. A white column is rising from the ground, and is pushing the table from beneath. There are plates, salt on the table. One of the glasses has fallen, releasing what seems to be wine.]

:[Cueball, stoming of its chair]:
Just a little more overburden pressure...
The dome is almost through the table...

{{comic discussion}}

2752: Salt Dome

2023-03-20T23:08:01Z

TianHanFei: downward

{{comic
| number = 2752
| date = March 20, 2023
| title = Salt Dome
| image = salt_dome_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x338px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The US uses hollowed-out salt domes to store the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and non-hollowed-out ones to store the Strategic Salt Reserve.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by Tsunami or Tidal Wave - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic refers to how downwards pressure in one area of the world can cause upwards pressure in another, causing {{w|salt domes}} to rise up.

In the comic, [[Beret Guy]] and [[Ponytail]] are sitting at a table and eating dinner, alongside [[Cueball]], who is presumably a {{w|geologist}}. Thus, when asked to "pass the salt," Cueball, with his extensive professional knowledge of the Earth's crust and its interactions with the surface world, is aware of this phenomenon, and as such is stomping on his chair in order to create downward pressure on the ground beneath. This apparently works exactly as intended, as a salt dome begins rising out of the floor and even begins to break through the dinner table. The caption humorously remarks that this is what will happen if you ask any geologist to "pass the salt," which conventionally means to simply hand a salt shaker or dispenser to another diner who cannot reach it (and a salt shaker can indeed be seen on their table).

In the title text, the {{w|Strategic Petroleum Reserve}} is a United States government reserve of oil in case of emergencies. Randall observes the actually true fact that artificial caves within hollowed-out salt domes create the spaces for the government to store this oil. However, he then makes the not-quite-absurd, but still amusing remark that in turn, the fictional{{citation needed}} Strategic Salt Reserve simply consists of completely-intact salt domes, which obviously means they are full of salt and as such serve their function as a salt reserve perfectly.

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

:[Beret Guy and ponytail are sitting at a table. A white column is rising from the ground, and is pushing the table from beneath. There are plates, salt on the table. One of the glasses has fallen, releasing what seems to be wine.]

:[Cueball, stoming of its chair]:
Just a little more overburden pressure...
The dome is almost through the table...

{{comic discussion}}

2752: Salt Dome

2023-03-20T23:06:51Z

TianHanFei: /* Explanation */ character tags

{{comic
| number = 2752
| date = March 20, 2023
| title = Salt Dome
| image = salt_dome_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x338px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The US uses hollowed-out salt domes to store the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and non-hollowed-out ones to store the Strategic Salt Reserve.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by Tsunami or Tidal Wave - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic refers to how pressure in one area of the world can cause upwards pressure in another, causing {{w|salt domes}} to rise up.

In the comic, [[Beret Guy]] and [[Ponytail]] are sitting at a table and eating dinner, alongside [[Cueball]], who is presumably a {{w|geologist}}. Thus, when asked to "pass the salt," Cueball, with his extensive professional knowledge of the Earth's crust and its interactions with the surface world, is aware of this phenomenon, and as such is stomping on his chair in order to create pressure on the ground beneath. This apparently works exactly as intended, as a salt dome begins rising out of the floor and even begins to break through the dinner table. The caption humorously remarks that this is what will happen if you ask any geologist to "pass the salt," which conventionally means to simply hand a salt shaker or dispenser to another diner who cannot reach it (and a salt shaker can indeed be seen on their table).

In the title text, the {{w|Strategic Petroleum Reserve}} is a United States government reserve of oil in case of emergencies. Randall observes the actually true fact that artificial caves within hollowed-out salt domes create the spaces for the government to store this oil. However, he then makes the not-quite-absurd, but still amusing remark that in turn, the fictional{{citation needed}} Strategic Salt Reserve simply consists of completely-intact salt domes, which obviously means they are full of salt and as such serve their function as a salt reserve perfectly.

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

:[Beret Guy and ponytail are sitting at a table. A white column is rising from the ground, and is pushing the table from beneath. There are plates, salt on the table. One of the glasses has fallen, releasing what seems to be wine.]

:[Cueball, stoming of its chair]:
Just a little more overburden pressure...
The dome is almost through the table...

{{comic discussion}}

2752: Salt Dome

2023-03-20T23:06:01Z

TianHanFei: /* Explanation */ just realised i marked the whole explanation as a minor edit lmao oops

{{comic
| number = 2752
| date = March 20, 2023
| title = Salt Dome
| image = salt_dome_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x338px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The US uses hollowed-out salt domes to store the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and non-hollowed-out ones to store the Strategic Salt Reserve.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by Tsunami or Tidal Wave - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic refers to how pressure in one area of the world can cause upwards pressure in another, causing {{w|salt domes}} to rise up.

In the comic, Beret Guy and Ponytail are sitting at a table and eating dinner, alongside Cueball, who is presumably a {{w|geologist}}. Thus, when asked to "pass the salt," Cueball, with his extensive professional knowledge of the Earth's crust and its interactions with the surface world, is aware of this phenomenon, and as such is stomping on his chair in order to create pressure on the ground beneath. This apparently works exactly as intended, as a salt dome begins rising out of the floor and even begins to break through the dinner table. The caption humorously remarks that this is what will happen if you ask any geologist to "pass the salt," which conventionally means to simply hand a salt shaker or dispenser to another diner who cannot reach it (and a salt shaker can indeed be seen on their table).

In the title text, the {{w|Strategic Petroleum Reserve}} is a United States government reserve of oil in case of emergencies. Randall observes the actually true fact that artificial caves within hollowed-out salt domes create the spaces for the government to store this oil. However, he then makes the not-quite-absurd, but still amusing remark that in turn, the fictional{{citation needed}} Strategic Salt Reserve simply consists of completely-intact salt domes, which obviously means they are full of salt and as such serve their function as a salt reserve perfectly.

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

:[Beret Guy and ponytail are sitting at a table. A white column is rising from the ground, and is pushing the table from beneath. There are plates, salt on the table. One of the glasses has fallen, releasing what seems to be wine.]

:[Cueball, stoming of its chair]:
Just a little more overburden pressure...
The dome is almost through the table...

{{comic discussion}}

2752: Salt Dome

2023-03-20T23:05:02Z

TianHanFei: title text

{{comic
| number = 2752
| date = March 20, 2023
| title = Salt Dome
| image = salt_dome_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x338px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The US uses hollowed-out salt domes to store the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and non-hollowed-out ones to store the Strategic Salt Reserve.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by Tsunami or Tidal Wave - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic refers to how pressure in one area of the world can cause upwards pressure in another, causing {{w|salt domes}} to rise up.

In the comic, Beret Guy and Ponytail are sitting at a table and eating dinner, alongside Cueball, who is presumably a {{w|geologist}}. Thus, Cueball, with his extensive professional knowledge of the Earth's crust and its interactions with the surface world, is aware of this phenomenon, and as such is stomping on his chair in order to create pressure on the ground beneath. This apparently works exactly as intended, as a salt dome begins rising out of the floor and even begins to break through the dinner table. The caption humorously remarks that this is what will happen if you ask any geologist to "pass the salt," which conventionally means to simply hand a salt shaker or dispenser to another diner who cannot reach it (and a salt shaker can indeed be seen on their table).

In the title text, the {{w|Strategic Petroleum Reserve}} is a United States government reserve of oil in case of emergencies. Randall observes the actually true fact that artificial caves within hollowed-out salt domes create the spaces for the government to store this oil. However, he then makes the not-quite-absurd, but still amusing remark that in turn, the fictional{{citation needed}} Strategic Salt Reserve simply consists of completely-intact salt domes, which obviously means they are full of salt and as such serve their function as a salt reserve perfectly.

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

:[Beret Guy and ponytail are sitting at a table. A white column is rising from the ground, and is pushing the table from beneath. There are plates, salt on the table. One of the glasses has fallen, releasing what seems to be wine.]

:[Cueball, stoming of its chair]:
Just a little more overburden pressure...
The dome is almost through the table...

{{comic discussion}}

2752: Salt Dome

2023-03-20T23:00:19Z

TianHanFei: explanation

331: Photoshops

2023-03-17T14:26:58Z

TianHanFei: citation needed

{{comic
| number = 331
| date = October 19, 2007
| title = Photoshops
| image = photoshops.png
| titletext = When I look into your eyes, I see JPEG artifacts. I can tell by the pixels that we're wrong for each other.
}}

==Explanation==
This whole comic, including the title text, are a play on the then-popular {{w|internet meme}} "[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/this-looks-shopped This Looks Shopped]." It may also be making fun of how everything and anything you find on the internet has someone insisting that it's 'fake' or 'photoshopped', regardless of whether it's true in actuality.

{{w|Adobe Photoshop}} is a popular {{w|Graphics software|image manipulation tool}}. It is used to manipulate photographic images and for drawing. Of course, Photoshop and similar tools like Paint Shop Pro can only be used for imagery, not for real life objects.{{citation needed}}

The title text contains the second part of the internet meme, the complete text of which is: "THIS LOOKS SHOPPED / I CAN TELL FROM SOME OF THE PIXELS AND FROM SEEING QUITE A FEW SHOPS IN MY TIME."

Quite a few interesting images have been uncovered as "shopped" using various techniques. Some examples: shadows are in the wrong direction, extra hands appear, movie stars are made thinner, wrinkles or spots are removed, and objects are added or removed. This of course triggered the start of the meme.

{{w|JPEG}} is an image compression algorithm that works by finding frequencies in blocks of 8x8 pixels and saving that instead of the original pixels. This works remarkably well, but sometimes leaves artifacts that can be seen when zooming in enough. The iris of an eye contains all kinds of odd colored spots - and there's not a JPEG algorithm in sight.

This is another strip in the [[My Hobby]] series.

==Transcript==
:[Megan holds a sword while Cueball looks on.]
:My hobby: Insisting that real-life objects are photoshopped.
:Megan: This sabre is a 19th-century family heirloom.
:Cueball: It looks photoshopped.
:Megan: Huh?
:Cueball: Yeah, the reflections are all wrong. Definitely photoshopped.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Computers]]

2750: Flatten the Planets

2023-03-16T14:54:01Z

TianHanFei: clarification on caption

{{comic
| number = 2750
| date = March 15, 2023
| title = Flatten the Planets
| image = flatten_the_planets_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x647px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We'll turn the asteroid belt into ball bearings to go between different rings orbiting at different speeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an OFF BY THREE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE ERROR. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic depicts a situation where the solar system is flattened to create a ring system around the Sun. This may be inspired by the {{w|Alderson disk}}, a hypothetical megastructure intended to gain truly massive amounts of living space by constructing a literal disk of matter around a star. This would require several solar systems' worth of matter to do, and materials with a tensile strength beyond what is likely physically possible for any known form of matter. The planets of our solar system would not be suitable for this endeavor;{{Citation needed}} alas, Randall apparently cannot comprehend why {{w|NASA}} is rejecting this proposal to "improve" the planets.

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" | Planet
! colspan="2" | Thickness
|-
!Inches
!Millimeters
|-
| Mercury || 1/8" || 3.2 mm
|-
| Venus || 1" || 25 mm
|-
| Earth || 3/4" || 19 mm
|-
| Mars || 0.01" || 0.25 mm
|-
| Jupiter || 18" || 460 mm
|-
| Saturn || 3" || 76 mm
|-
| Uranus || 1/8" || 3.2 mm
|-
| Neptune || 1/16" || 1.6 mm
|}

The title text explains what would happen to the asteroid belt if this was done. He is proposing that the asteroids should be turned into ball bearings to go in between the planetary discs. There is enough matter in the asteroid belt to do this,{{Actual citation needed|Surely depends upon the size and radial density of the inserted race of bearings}} and furthermore it implies that the discs would actually have small gaps between them. Unless the discs were made of material with impossibly high tensile strength, the whole structure would soon be torn apart by the relative forces between the inner and outer fringes of each disc trying to both 'orbit' at the rate more suited to a radial distance somewhere between the two, and crushing the bearings placed between adjacent ones. Although less so than with a single structural disc rotating at any single given compromise rotation (or not at all).

==Transcript==
:[This comic depicts a situation where the planets of the Solar System are flattened using a roller pin to create a contiguous ring system around the Sun, with each planet taking up the part within their orbit to the next planet (or the Sun).]

:[The top part shows a normal image of the Solar System with the eight planets orbiting the Sun, and their orbits shown as circles. The Sun is yellow and the planets have approximately the color they typically are shown in. Earth has more features than the other three rocky planets. Jupiter has clear features including the red spot, while Saturn has its rings. Beneath this is a broad arrow pointing down.]
:↓
:[The arrow points to a roller pin. A similar arrow points down to the next image.]
:↓
:[The second large image shows the Solar System with the planets flattened to fill out the gap between the Sun and each of the planets, so they each cover the area of the circle within their orbits, into the next planet (or the Sun). Each segment has kept a similar color as used for the planets in the first image. The Sun is not flattened and is now the center of a huge ring with eight different colors, some with patterns, mainly Earth, but also Jupiter and Saturn's discs show features.]

:[Beneath this to the right is a side view of the flattened Earth, with its thickness indicated with two arrows pointing in at the top and up at the bottom of two dotted lines continuing where the "Earth" stops. A label has been written between these two lines, and the thickness is compared to US quarter and penny coins.]
:Earth
:3/4"

:[Below this and going all the way across the panel is a side view with a segment of the Sun to the left followed by all the flattened planets, labeled with their name and their thicknesses. Arrows point to the relevant segment from the three rocky planets other than Earth. Above Jupiter and Saturn is a label between two arrows. Text alternates between being above and below the planets. Their thicknesses differ quite a lot, with Mars being the thinnest and Jupiter by far the thickest. Cueball stands on the flattened Earth.]
:← Not to scale →
:Mercury 1/8"
:Venus: 1"
:Earth 3/4"
:Mars 250 microns
:Jupiter 18"
:Saturn 3"
:Uranus 1/8"
:Neptune 1/16"

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I don't know why NASA keeps rejecting my proposals to improve the Solar System

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Space]]

2748: Radians Are Cursed

2023-03-10T19:59:31Z

TianHanFei: yea i was pretty sure radians weren't defined that way

{{comic
| number = 2748
| date = March 10, 2023
| title = Radians Are Cursed
| image = radians_are_cursed_2x.png
| imagesize = 394x437px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Phil Plait once pointed out that you can calculate the total angular area of the sky this way. If the sky is a sphere with radius 57.3 degrees, then its area is 4*pi*r^2=41,253 square degrees. This makes dimensional analysts SO mad, but you can't argue with results.
}}

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

This comic presents a series of Math Facts, appearing to be in a sequential order.

The first fact states that the {{w|unit circle}} has a radius of one, which is precisely its definition. Randall labels this fact as being "normal," complete with a large green checkmark to verify this.

The second fact states that one {{w|radian}} is equal to the length of a circle's radius, which isn't actually the way that the unit is defined. Instead, radians are usually defined as the angle encompassing the arc of a circle equal to its radius. This comic's logic is thus somewhat erroneous at best. Also, while Randall uses the unit circle in the fact's associated diagram, any circle could theoretically be used to show the conventional definition. However, this fact is still labeled as also being "normal."

The third fact states that one radian is equal to 57.3 degrees. The more usual conversion factor between the two units is that pi radians is equal to 180 degrees, though the conversion given by Randall is still indeed true (albeit rounded). This is again labeled "normal."

The fourth and final fact, however, is a questionable application of the {{w|transitive property}}, stating that because it was determined in earlier facts that a radian is equal to the radius of the unit circle (still not entirely correct) as well as 57.3 degrees, then the radius of the unit circle must be equal to 57.3 degrees. This is usually not how degrees are supposed to work in mathematics, and is thus the only fact labeled "cursed" by Randall, hence the title of the comic.

The title text is referring to Phil Plait's claim about the size of the sky, which was published on his blog: http://www.badastronomy.com/bitesize/bigsky.html. Dimensional analysis utilizes the rationale that both sides of an equation need to have the same unit. Radius typically refers to a length, which has SI units of meters. The surface area has SI units of square meters. The units of Phil Plait's "angular area" is as the title text mentions, square degrees, a unit not used in any scientific unit system. Thus the comic's dimensional analysts (not a profession, but instead the adherents of the mathematical technique) are made quite angry by the application of Randall's strange and unconventional logic.

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

:Math facts

:The unit circle has a radius of one  ✓ Normal
:One radian equals the length of a circle’s radius  ✓ Normal
:One radian is 57.3 degrees  ✓ Normal
:The unit circle has a radius of 57.3 degrees  X Cursed

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Geometry]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2748: Radians Are Cursed

2023-03-10T19:55:58Z

TianHanFei: typos

{{comic
| number = 2748
| date = March 10, 2023
| title = Radians Are Cursed
| image = radians_are_cursed_2x.png
| imagesize = 394x437px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Phil Plait once pointed out that you can calculate the total angular area of the sky this way. If the sky is a sphere with radius 57.3 degrees, then its area is 4*pi*r^2=41,253 square degrees. This makes dimensional analysts SO mad, but you can't argue with results.
}}

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

This comic presents a series of Math Facts, appearing to be in a sequential order.

The first fact states that the {{w|unit circle}} has a radius of one, which is precisely its definition. Randall labels this fact as being "normal," complete with a large green checkmark to verify this.

The second fact states that one {{w|radian}} is equal to the length of a circle's radius, which isn't usually the way that the unit is defined. Instead, radians are usually defined as the angle encompassing the arc of a circle equal to its radius. Thus while Randall uses the unit circle in the fact's associated diagram, any circle could theoretically be used to show the conventional definition. However, this fact is still labelled as also being "normal."

The third fact states that one radian is equal to 57.3 degrees. The more usual conversion factor between the two units is that pi radians is euqal to 180 degrees, though the conversion given by Randall is still indeed true (albeit rounded). This is again labelled "normal."

The fourth and final fact, however, is a questionable application of the {{w|transitive property}}, stating that because it was determined in earlier facts that a radian is equal to the radius of the unit circle as well as 57.3 degrees, then the radius of the unit circle must be equal to 57.3 degrees. This is usually not how degrees are supposed to work in mathematics, and is thus the only fact labelled "cursed" by Randall, hence the title of the comic.

The title text is referring to Phil Plait's claim about the size of the sky, which was published on his blog: http://www.badastronomy.com/bitesize/bigsky.html. Dimensional analysis utilizes the rationale that both sides of an equation need to have the same unit. Radius typically refers to a length, which has SI units of meters. The surface area has SI units of square meters. The units of Phil Plait's "angular area" is as the title text mentions, square degrees, a unit not used in any scientific unit system. Thus the comic's dimensional analysts (not a profession, but instead the adherents of the mathematical technique) are made quite angry by the application of Randall's strange and unconventional logic.

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

:Math facts

:The unit circle has a radius of one  ✓ Normal
:One radian equals the length of a circle’s radius  ✓ Normal
:One radian is 57.3 degrees  ✓ Normal
:The unit circle has a radius of 57.3 degrees  X Cursed

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Geometry]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2748: Radians Are Cursed

2023-03-10T19:55:14Z

TianHanFei: explanation

{{comic
| number = 2748
| date = March 10, 2023
| title = Radians Are Cursed
| image = radians_are_cursed_2x.png
| imagesize = 394x437px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Phil Plait once pointed out that you can calculate the total angular area of the sky this way. If the sky is a sphere with radius 57.3 degrees, then its area is 4*pi*r^2=41,253 square degrees. This makes dimensional analysts SO mad, but you can't argue with results.
}}

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

This comic presents a series of Math Facts, appearing to be in a sequential order.

The first fact states that the {{w|unit circle}} has a radius of one, which is precisely its definition. Randall labels this fact as being "normal," complete with a large green checkmark to verify this.

The second fact states that one {{w|radian}} is equal to the length of a circle's radius, which isn't usually the way that the unit is defined. Instead, radians are usually defined as the angle encompassing the arc of a circle equal to its radius. Thus while Randall uses the unit circle in the fact's associated diagram, any circle could theoretically be used to show the conventional definition. However, this fact is still labelled as also being "normal."

The third fact states that one radian is equal to 57.3 degrees. The more usual conversion factor between the two units is that pi radians is euqal to 180 degrees, though the conversion given by Randall is still indeed true (albeit rounded). This is again labelled "normal."

The fourth and final fact, however, is a questionable application of the {{w|transitive property}}, stating that because it was determined in earlier facts that a radian is equal to the radius of the unit circle as well as 57.3 degrees, then the radius of the unit circle must be equal to 57.3 degrees. This is usually not how degrees are supposed to work in mathematics, and is thus the only fact labelled "cursed" by Randall, hence the title of the comic.

Title text is refering to Phil Plait's claim about the size of the sky, which was published on his blog: http://www.badastronomy.com/bitesize/bigsky.html
Dimensional analysis utilizes the rational that both sides of an equation need to have the same unit. Radius typically refers to a length, which has SI units of meters. The surface area has SI units of square meters. The units of Phil Plait's "angular area" is as the title text mentions, square degrees, a unit not used in any scientific unit system. Thus the comic's dimensional analysts (not a profession, but instead the adherents of the mathematical technique) are made quite angry by the application of Randall's strange and unconventional logic.

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

:Math facts

:The unit circle has a radius of one  ✓ Normal
:One radian equals the length of a circle’s radius  ✓ Normal
:One radian is 57.3 degrees  ✓ Normal
:The unit circle has a radius of 57.3 degrees  X Cursed

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Geometry]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

475: Further Boomerang Difficulties

2023-03-10T16:43:54Z

TianHanFei: smth i thought when i read it idk

{{comic
| number = 475
| date = September 12, 2008
| title = Further Boomerang Difficulties
| image = further_boomerang_difficulties.png
| titletext = An eternity later, the universe having turned out to have positive curvature and lots of mass, the boomerang hits him in the back of the head.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a sequel of sorts to [[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]], as it deals with the same subject manner with the same panel layout.

The first strip shows [[Cueball]] throwing a boomerang, which doesn't come back. He looks downwards in the rightmost panel as if in shame. In [[939: Arrow]], a boomerang returns to Cueball, which can either be the same Cueball from this comic or another person.

In the second strip, he throws another boomerang, which somehow manages to hurt the {{w|ozone layer}} (as indicated by an off-screen voice). This is of course not possible with a boomerang, as the ozone layer is a layer of O3 molecules very high up in the atmosphere.{{citation needed}}

The third strip shows Cueball throwing something that ''appears'' to be a boomerang, but then [[Megan]] enters and reveals that it was their last banana - which she probably had expected to eat since she calls him an asshole. Perhaps this is why she broke up with him in the first comic.

The final strip shows Cueball throwing one last boomerang, which breaks the frame of the comic, already after two out of the four frames used in each of the first three strips. In the second panel, Cueball seems to be leaning backward in shock or terror. Then, panning down, we find the last panel, much larger and suddenly mainly black instead of white. It shows that this time he was actually inside a spacecraft (which resembles an {{w|Apollo Lunar Module}} in a very bad manner), and the boomerang has just broken out through the hull. We see the boomerang and Cueball tumbling out into space with the escaping air to certain death, revealing why Cueball was so taken aback when the boomerang broke through the frame.

If you try to link up the rightmost panels, as what was suggested [[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]] to get a bonus comic strip, you get a bad story where Cueball is looking down, presumably in shame. Then a person (presumably Megan), screams about the ozone layer. We also see Megan call Cueball an asshole, probably because he had destroyed (or messed with) the ozone layer.

The title text notes that, assuming a theory that is {{w|Accelerating universe|no longer generally accepted}} where the universe has a positive (closed) {{w|curvature}} and lots of mass, the boomerang would, after a (very) long time, hit Cueball in the back of his head. This would happen because under those conditions the entire universe would eventually fall back on itself in the {{w|Big Crunch}}. Before this happens, everything would again get pressed close together, and it is during this process that the boomerang would finally return to his frozen (but quite possibly preserved) head. (So at least one "success" in four attempts.)

Boomerangs also became a main theme in the interactive comic [[1350: Lorenz]]. The same format of multiple bad endings to the same starting set-up is used in [[1515: Basketball Earth]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is throwing a boomerang.]
:[Holding his hands up.]
:[Cueball waits for return; continual waiting.]
:[Cueball is dejected, head hangs low.]

:[Cueball throws a boomerang.]
:[Cueball waits for the boomerang.]
:Outside: Oh God
:Outside: The ozone layer!
:[Cueball is surprised.]

:[Cueball throws a boomerang-like banana.]
:[Cueball waits.]
:[Megan walks in.]
:Megan: That was our last banana.
:Megan: You're such an asshole.

:[Cueball throws a boomerang.]
:[The boomerang breaks out of the panel box.]

:[The boomerang breaks out of a spacecraft, followed by Cueball.]

==Trivia==
*Part of this comic and [[939: Arrow]] is the picture for the [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrickJoke Brick Joke] page on TV Tropes.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Boomerangs]]
[[Category:Physics]]

449: Things Fall Apart

2023-03-08T00:37:36Z

TianHanFei: italicise

{{comic
| number = 449
| date = July 14, 2008
| title = Things Fall Apart
| image = things_fall_apart.png
| titletext = 'I'm nothing without you' is a fucked-up sentiment.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are about to break up. Megan is trying to explain things, but Cueball is constantly saying "I love you," asserting that the fact that he loves her should be enough to keep her from breaking up with him. But while loving the other person is a necessary condition for sustainability, it is not a ''sufficient'' reason all on its own.

The title text says that 'I'm nothing without you' is a fucked-up sentiment. This could read to imply that that's what Cueball really means, and he isn't saying it that way because 'I love you' is a more acceptable way of expressing it. Saying it over and over again, like he is doing, has almost the same effect, though. Conventionally, it could be said that the mindset of someone believing that they are nothing without their partner—in other words, defining their identity in terms of the other person—is a dangerous and unhealthy sentiment. A person should have enough self-identity and sense of self-worth to know that they have value even outside the context of a relationship.

The title of the comic, "Things Fall Apart," could be a reference to the poem {{w|The Second Coming (poem)|''The Second Coming''}} by W.B. Yeats, which contains the line "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold," implying that things between Megan and Cueball are falling apart, and the fact that Cueball is still in love with Megan (arguably, the "center" of the relationship) isn't enough to sustain them. It could also be a reference to the novel ''{{w|Things Fall Apart}}'' by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are holding hands. The speech is in bubbles with arrows pointing towards the two. Not as usual with text just written above a line from the speaker.]
:Megan: I wonder about us.
:Cueball: I love you.

:[Megan lets go of Cueball's hand. But he keeps his hand in the same position as before. Cueball's speech bubble covers the bottom of Megan's, indicating that he speaks partly over her sentence.]
:Megan: We don't have fun together.
:Cueball: I love you.

:[As Megan keeps her hands down, Cueball lifts his arm even more towards her. His speech bubble is covering the top part of his head, as well as the bottom of Megan's bubble.]
:Megan: It's like we're clinging to the "relationship" framework like it's all we got.
:Cueball: I love you.

:[Megan leans back from Cueball as he leans towards her, one arm outstretched toward her. Cueball's speech bubble covers the lower right section of Megan's bubble, breaking her sentence off in the middle of her last word, clearly showing that he speaks in over her speech.]
:Megan: Who are you trying to reassur—
:Cueball: I love you I love you I love you I love you

{{comic discussion}}

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

449: Things Fall Apart

2023-03-08T00:37:12Z

TianHanFei: forgot w

{{comic
| number = 449
| date = July 14, 2008
| title = Things Fall Apart
| image = things_fall_apart.png
| titletext = 'I'm nothing without you' is a fucked-up sentiment.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are about to break up. Megan is trying to explain things, but Cueball is constantly saying "I love you," asserting that the fact that he loves her should be enough to keep her from breaking up with him. But while loving the other person is a necessary condition for sustainability, it is not a ''sufficient'' reason all on its own.

The title text says that 'I'm nothing without you' is a fucked-up sentiment. This could read to imply that that's what Cueball really means, and he isn't saying it that way because 'I love you' is a more acceptable way of expressing it. Saying it over and over again, like he is doing, has almost the same effect, though. Conventionally, it could be said that the mindset of someone believing that they are nothing without their partner—in other words, defining their identity in terms of the other person—is a dangerous and unhealthy sentiment. A person should have enough self-identity and sense of self-worth to know that they have value even outside the context of a relationship.

The title of the comic, "Things Fall Apart," could be a reference to the poem {{w|The Second Coming (poem)|''The Second Coming''}} by W.B. Yeats, which contains the line "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold," implying that things between Megan and Cueball are falling apart, and the fact that Cueball is still in love with Megan (arguably, the "center" of the relationship) isn't enough to sustain them. It could also be a reference to the novel {{w|Things Fall Apart}} by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are holding hands. The speech is in bubbles with arrows pointing towards the two. Not as usual with text just written above a line from the speaker.]
:Megan: I wonder about us.
:Cueball: I love you.

:[Megan lets go of Cueball's hand. But he keeps his hand in the same position as before. Cueball's speech bubble covers the bottom of Megan's, indicating that he speaks partly over her sentence.]
:Megan: We don't have fun together.
:Cueball: I love you.

:[As Megan keeps her hands down, Cueball lifts his arm even more towards her. His speech bubble is covering the top part of his head, as well as the bottom of Megan's bubble.]
:Megan: It's like we're clinging to the "relationship" framework like it's all we got.
:Cueball: I love you.

:[Megan leans back from Cueball as he leans towards her, one arm outstretched toward her. Cueball's speech bubble covers the lower right section of Megan's bubble, breaking her sentence off in the middle of her last word, clearly showing that he speaks in over her speech.]
:Megan: Who are you trying to reassur—
:Cueball: I love you I love you I love you I love you

{{comic discussion}}

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

449: Things Fall Apart

2023-03-08T00:36:55Z

TianHanFei: i thought first of chinua achebe

{{comic
| number = 449
| date = July 14, 2008
| title = Things Fall Apart
| image = things_fall_apart.png
| titletext = 'I'm nothing without you' is a fucked-up sentiment.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are about to break up. Megan is trying to explain things, but Cueball is constantly saying "I love you," asserting that the fact that he loves her should be enough to keep her from breaking up with him. But while loving the other person is a necessary condition for sustainability, it is not a ''sufficient'' reason all on its own.

The title text says that 'I'm nothing without you' is a fucked-up sentiment. This could read to imply that that's what Cueball really means, and he isn't saying it that way because 'I love you' is a more acceptable way of expressing it. Saying it over and over again, like he is doing, has almost the same effect, though. Conventionally, it could be said that the mindset of someone believing that they are nothing without their partner—in other words, defining their identity in terms of the other person—is a dangerous and unhealthy sentiment. A person should have enough self-identity and sense of self-worth to know that they have value even outside the context of a relationship.

The title of the comic, "Things Fall Apart," could be a reference to the poem {{w|The Second Coming (poem)|''The Second Coming''}} by W.B. Yeats, which contains the line "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold," implying that things between Megan and Cueball are falling apart, and the fact that Cueball is still in love with Megan (arguably, the "center" of the relationship) isn't enough to sustain them. It could also be a reference to the novel {{Things Fall Apart}} by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are holding hands. The speech is in bubbles with arrows pointing towards the two. Not as usual with text just written above a line from the speaker.]
:Megan: I wonder about us.
:Cueball: I love you.

:[Megan lets go of Cueball's hand. But he keeps his hand in the same position as before. Cueball's speech bubble covers the bottom of Megan's, indicating that he speaks partly over her sentence.]
:Megan: We don't have fun together.
:Cueball: I love you.

:[As Megan keeps her hands down, Cueball lifts his arm even more towards her. His speech bubble is covering the top part of his head, as well as the bottom of Megan's bubble.]
:Megan: It's like we're clinging to the "relationship" framework like it's all we got.
:Cueball: I love you.

:[Megan leans back from Cueball as he leans towards her, one arm outstretched toward her. Cueball's speech bubble covers the lower right section of Megan's bubble, breaking her sentence off in the middle of her last word, clearly showing that he speaks in over her speech.]
:Megan: Who are you trying to reassur—
:Cueball: I love you I love you I love you I love you

{{comic discussion}}

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

2746: Launch Window

2023-03-07T15:27:00Z

TianHanFei: capitalisation

{{comic
| number = 2746
| date = March 6, 2023
| title = Launch Window
| image = launch_window_2x.png
| imagesize = 501x256px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "Confirmed, we have to scrub." "Ugh, okay. I'll get the bucket and sponge."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WINDEX-SCRUBBED LAUNCH WINDOW - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A {{w|launch window}} is a brief period of time in which a spacecraft can be launched from Earth's surface such that the spacecraft can reach its destination with the minimal amount (or an amount lower than a threshold of acceptance) of energy expenditure.

This comic takes the concept of a "launch window" in a more literal direction, implying that they have an actual physical window that is only open at certain times. One character suggests moving the rocket outside in order to avoid issues that arise from dealing with the window, but gets pushback because moving the rocket outside would cause them to have to deal with more (again, literal) bugs.

The title text is a play on the two meanings of ''scrub'': to rub with a (usually wet) sponge or brush to clean, or to cancel (here: the launch of the rocket). This continues the comic’s theme of taking aerospace terms literally.

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

[First panel: Ponytail and Hairy can be seen sitting behind a console]

Ponytail: The launch window will only be open for another 90 minutes. We may have to scrub.

[Second panel: Slightly zoomed out, left from Ponytail and Hairy, Cueball can be seen behind a console as well]

Cueball: You know, given all our issues with the launch window,

[Third panel: Cueball turns around, facing the others]

Cueball: Have we thought about moving the rocket outside?

Ponytail: Ugh, no. It's so sunny out.

Hairy: And there are bugs.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Hairy]]

2745: Obituary Editor

2023-03-05T15:34:10Z

TianHanFei: think this is a mistake

{{comic
| number = 2745
| date = March 3, 2023
| title = Obituary Editor
| image = obituary_editor_2x.png
| imagesize = 383x232px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = As the editor has reportedly defeated Death in a series of games of skill, no further obituaries are expected.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an AUTO-POST SYSTEM - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
An {{w|obituary}} is a usually short paragraph in a newspaper describing a local person who has recently passed away. They usually offer a few words of praise and a list of a few relatives, as well as a scheduled time for memorial services to be held some time after the obituary is published.

Apparently, the editor of this newspaper has just died. However, instead of somebody writing their obituary after the fact, as is conventionally done, the editor has seemingly taken matters into their own hands and written their own obituary. They (somewhat vainly) describe themselves as cool, attractive, and universally beloved, a dubious claim at best. The following sentence reveals that the editor had pre-arranged the scheduled release of this obituary, after their death, probably {{w|Dead man's switch|entirely automatically}}. Obituaries are often pre-written for famous people, ahead of their actual need arising, as this (not-so-famous) person has done for themself. Though this is generally to avoid needing to rush the writing of every biography, including carefully ensuring it is accurately written and sufficiently complete, leaving only minor circumstantial updates and detailing to be inserted and checked as and when events lead up to its actual publication.

Rather than the names of some close family (usually parents, a spouse, and children), the editor is allegedly survived by 8 billion people, or the current population of the entirety of Earth, who further are all heartbroken by the loss. All public spaces will now be reserved for a memorial service of the editor every single day (or, at least, the editor hopes they will be). Given that the entire population of earth is unlikely to care about one editor at a local newspaper,{{citation needed}} they are most likely exaggerating the effect which their death will have.

The title text references a common trope in culture, in which a person who has just died decides to challenge Death, or the {{w|Grim Reaper}}, to a game of skill ({{tvtropes|ChessWithDeath|usually chess}}). Apparently, it is (possibly prematurely) claimed by the editor that they have challenged death to a series of games of skill (probably most or all variations of the trope, including chess), and defeated Death in all of them. Rather than gaining themselves a "second chance at life," however, as is usually the reward promised by Death for the dead person's victory, the editor's victory over Death has been so absolute that Death itself has been nullified for all of humanity. Hence no more obituaries will ever be required, as every human currently alive (and presumably future ones) will now live forever. Of course, if this did actually occur, then the entire population of earth would not be unlikely to care about the editor, because even if the editor's work at the newspaper wasn't significant to them, the editor's role in preventing their deaths would be. Randall has referenced this trope in [[393: Ultimate Game]], as a tribute to Gary Gygax, the inventor of ''Dungeons and Dragons''.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Text on the top-left corner of a gray newspaper page:]

:Obituaries
:<hr width="50" style="background-color:black" align="left">
:The cool, attractive, universally beloved
:editor of the obituary section has died,
:hopefully of natural causes after a long
:life. They take with them the password to the
:heretofore unrevealed auto-post system.

:They are survived by 8 billion heartbroken
:people. Memorial services will be held
:daily in all public spaces from now on.
:<hr width="50" style="background-color:black" align="left">

{{comic discussion}}

2745: Obituary Editor

2023-03-03T15:00:26Z

TianHanFei: wiki link

2745: Obituary Editor

2023-03-03T14:59:46Z

TianHanFei: removed placeholder

2745: Obituary Editor

2023-03-03T14:49:20Z

TianHanFei: explanation

2743: Hand Dryers

2023-02-27T19:47:49Z

TianHanFei: citation needed

{{comic
| number = 2743
| date = February 27, 2023
| title = Hand Dryers
| image = hand_dryers_2x.png
| imagesize = 618x309px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I know hand dryers have their problems, but I think for fun we should keep egging Dyson on and see if we can get them to make one where the airflow breaks the speed of sound.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DYSON ENGINEER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A {{w|hand dryer}} is an electrical device which usually uses hot air to dry the user's hands after they have just washed them. In the 30 or so seconds it takes for user's hands to be dried, the user may feel as though the air coming from the hand dryer isn't actually warm, hence seeming like they "take forever to heat up," while in reality the water evaoprating from the user's wet hands absorbs heat energy from them (as {{w|evaporation}} is an endothermic process). Thus, the user only ''feels'' that the air from the dryer is not warm, even though it is. Interestingly, this absorption of heat through evaporation is how human {{w|sweat}} has its cooling effect.

Randall has apparently procured a small airplane, accompanied by a banner with a message explaining this phenomenon. He elaborates in the caption that he's spent dozens of years feeling angered with the engineers of these hand dryers, as he was under the comic's erroneous impression that the air from the dryers was not actually warm. In a presumable act of justice for hand dryer engineers everywhere, he now considers it his personal mission to explain to the public why this is actually a misconception. And indeed, it seems to be working - a person on the ground has already been enlightened by Randall.

In the title text, the {{w|speed of sound}} is (obviously) the speed of a sound wave in a given medium, usually air. Breaking the {{w|sound barrier}} is often touted as a significant achievement for powered aircraft (though this was first achieved many decades ago, in the 1950s). Here, Randall thinks it would be a good idea to try and get the Dyson company (a technology company known for its hand dryers) to design a hand dryer whose airflow would break this sound barrier. This would probably not be possible to achieve with such a relatively small device as a hand dryer, nor would such a hand dryer really be practically useful, given that air currents faster than the speed of sound would probably injure the hands of the dryer's users, among other things{{citation needed}}.

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

:[An airplane tows a banner. In the distance, there are three small clouds and three birds]

:[On the banner is written:] It seems like hand dryers take forever to heat up, but that's because the evaporation cools your skin, so the hot air feels cold until the water is gone.

:Voice coming from the bottom of the panel: Ohhh!

:[Caption below the panel:] I spent decades mistakenly annoyed at hand dryer engineers, so now I'm on a mission to save others from the same fate.

{{comic discussion}}

2743: Hand Dryers

2023-02-27T19:46:10Z

TianHanFei: title text

{{comic
| number = 2743
| date = February 27, 2023
| title = Hand Dryers
| image = hand_dryers_2x.png
| imagesize = 618x309px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I know hand dryers have their problems, but I think for fun we should keep egging Dyson on and see if we can get them to make one where the airflow breaks the speed of sound.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DYSON ENGINEER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A {{w|hand dryer}} is an electrical device which usually uses hot air to dry the user's hands after they have just washed them. In the 30 or so seconds it takes for user's hands to be dried, the user may feel as though the air coming from the hand dryer isn't actually warm, hence seeming like they "take forever to heat up," while in reality the water evaoprating from the user's wet hands absorbs heat energy from them (as {{w|evaporation}} is an endothermic process). Thus, the user only ''feels'' that the air from the dryer is not warm, even though it is. Interestingly, this absorption of heat through evaporation is how human {{w|sweat}} has its cooling effect.

Randall has apparently procured a small airplane, accompanied by a banner with a message explaining this phenomenon. He elaborates in the caption that he's spent dozens of years feeling angered with the engineers of these hand dryers, as he was under the comic's erroneous impression that the air from the dryers was not actually warm. In a presumable act of justice for hand dryer engineers everywhere, he now considers it his personal mission to explain to the public why this is actually a misconception. And indeed, it seems to be working - a person on the ground has already been enlightened by Randall.

In the title text, the {{w|speed of sound}} is (obviously) the speed of a sound wave in a given medium, usually air. Breaking the {{w|sound barrier}} is often touted as a significant achievement for powered aircraft (though this was first achieved many decades ago, in the 1950s). Here, Randall thinks it would be a good idea to try and get the Dyson company (a technology company known for its hand dryers) to design a hand dryer whose airflow would break this sound barrier. This would probably not be possible to achieve with such a relatively small device as a hand dryer, nor would such a hand dryer really be practically useful, given that air currents faster than the speed of sound would probably injure the hands of the dryer's users, among other things.

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

:[An airplane tows a banner. In the distance, there are three small clouds and three birds]

:[On the banner is written:] It seems like hand dryers take forever to heat up, but that's because the evaporation cools your skin, so the hot air feels cold until the water is gone.

:Voice coming from the bottom of the panel: Ohhh!

:[Caption below the panel:] I spent decades mistakenly annoyed at hand dryer engineers, so now I'm on a mission to save others from the same fate.

{{comic discussion}}

2743: Hand Dryers

2023-02-27T19:25:17Z

TianHanFei: /* Explanation */ applied correct italics

{{comic
| number = 2743
| date = February 27, 2023
| title = Hand Dryers
| image = hand_dryers_2x.png
| imagesize = 618x309px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I know hand dryers have their problems, but I think for fun we should keep egging Dyson on and see if we can get them to make one where the airflow breaks the speed of sound.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DYSON ENGINEER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A {{w|hand dryer}} is an electrical device which usually uses hot air to dry the user's hands after they have just washed them. In the 30 or so seconds it takes for user's hands to be dried, the user may feel as though the air coming from the hand dryer isn't actually warm, hence seeming like they "take forever to heat up," while in reality the water evaoprating from the user's wet hands absorbs heat energy from them (as {{w|evaporation}} is an endothermic process). Thus, the user only ''feels'' that the air from the dryer is not warm, even though it is. Interestingly, this absorption of heat through evaporation is how human {{w|sweat}} has its cooling effect.

Randall has apparently procured a small airplane, accompanied by a banner with a message explaining this phenomenon. He elaborates in the caption that he's spent dozens of years feeling angered with the engineers of these hand dryers, as he was under the comic's erroneous impression that the air from the dryers was not actually warm. In a presumable act of justice for hand dryer engineers everywhere, he now considers it his personal mission to explain to the public why this is actually a misconception. And indeed, it seems to be working - a person on the ground has already been enlightened by Randall.

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

:[An airplane tows a banner. In the distance, there are three small clouds and three birds]

:[On the banner is written:] It seems like hand dryers take forever to heat up, but that's because the evaporation cools your skin, so the hot air feels cold until the water is gone.

:Voice coming from the bottom of the panel: Ohhh!

:[Caption below the panel:] I spent decades mistakenly annoyed at hand dryer engineers, so now I'm on a mission to save others from the same fate.

{{comic discussion}}

2743: Hand Dryers

2023-02-27T19:23:27Z

TianHanFei: explanation

{{comic
| number = 2743
| date = February 27, 2023
| title = Hand Dryers
| image = hand_dryers_2x.png
| imagesize = 618x309px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I know hand dryers have their problems, but I think for fun we should keep egging Dyson on and see if we can get them to make one where the airflow breaks the speed of sound.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DYSON ENGINEER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A {{w|hand dryer}} is an electrical device which usually uses hot air to dry the user's hands after they have just washed them. In the 30 or so seconds it takes for user's hands to be dried, the user may feel as though the air coming from the hand dryer isn't actually warm, hence seeming like they "take forever to heat up," while in reality the water evaoprating from the user's wet hands absorbs heat energy from them (as {{w|evaporation}} is an endothermic process). Thus, the user only *feels* that the air from the dryer is not warm, even though it is. Interestingly, this absorption of heat through evaporation is how human {{w|sweat}} has its cooling effect.

Randall has apparently procured a small airplane, accompanied by a banner with a message explaining this phenomenon. He elaborates in the caption that he's spent dozens of years feeling angered with the engineers of these hand dryers, as he was under the comic's erroneous impression that the air from the dryers was not actually warm. In a presumable act of justice for hand dryer engineers everywhere, he now considers it his personal mission to explain to the public why this is actually a misconception. And indeed, it seems to be working - a person on the ground has already been enlightened by Randall.

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

:[An airplane tows a banner. In the distance, there are three small clouds and three birds]

:[On the banner is written:] It seems like hand dryers take forever to heat up, but that's because the evaporation cools your skin, so the hot air feels cold until the water is gone.

:Voice coming from the bottom of the panel: Ohhh!

:[Caption below the panel:] I spent decades mistakenly annoyed at hand dryer engineers, so now I'm on a mission to save others from the same fate.

{{comic discussion}}