{{comic
| number = 2443
| date = March 30, 2021
| title = Immune Response
| image = immune_response.png
| titletext = I don't care whether you win or lose, as long as you have-- ...okay, sorry, I'm being reminded I very much care whether you win or lose. I need you to win, that's very important.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HEROIC IMMUNE CELL. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Another comic about the COVID-19 vaccine, like #2425: mRNA Vaccine.

The vaccine is an inactive form of the virus, which the immune system fights as though it were the real thing, thus gaining the knowledge of how to ward off the virus if it ever actually shows up.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan is walking toward Cueball.]
:Megan: How you feeling?
:Cueball: Not bad. Tired. A little sore.

:[Zoom on Cueball.]
:Cueball: I feel bad for my immune system. It doesn't know this isn't a real virus. It must be freaking out. Hey buddy, don't worry! We're going to be fine. This is just practice!

:[Zoom out, Megan gestures at Cueball. Cueball holds his arm.]
:Megan: No, don't tell it that. You want it to panic and build defenses that will be able to handle the real thing.
:Cueball: I guess. Okay, let me try that again. *ahem*

:[Cueball dramatically clutches his chest.]
:Cueball: Woe! My arm is stricken by a dreadful plague! I feel death draw near! My only hope is those heroic immune cells!
:Megan: Perfect.
:Cueball: Psst - you're doing great! I'm so proud of you.

{{comic discussion}}

2443: Immune Response

2021-03-30T00:22:40Z

Youforgotthisthing:

2443: Immune Response

2021-03-30T00:22:11Z

Youforgotthisthing:

2443: Immune Response

2021-03-30T00:20:07Z

Youforgotthisthing:

2021-02-18T00:19:26Z

Youforgotthisthing:

{{comic
| number = 2426
| date = February 18, 2021
| title = Animal Songs
| image = animal_songs.png
| titletext = Dr. Fauci is not permitted to have a cat, because as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, his petting one would be considered giving aid and comfort to an allergen.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by DR. FAUCI IN PRIVATE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Another joke about professionals not being so professsional in private; e.g. [[2401]]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[Dr. Fauci is putting on a white lab coat and dancing. A fish tank stands on an end table to the right. The fish inside is looking at him.]
:Dr. Fauci: ♪ ''Putting on'' ♪
:Dr. Fauci: ♫ ''my'' ♫
:Dr. Fauci: ''doctor coat'' ♫ ♫ ♪

[Dr. Fauci is buttoning the coat. He is now to the right of the fish tank.]
:Dr. Fauci: ''It's the coat'' ♪
:Dr. Fauci: ♫ ''I wear'' ♪ ♫ ♫ ♪

[Dr. Fauci is back to the left of the fish tank, looking himself in a mirror, and touching his face.]
:Dr. Fauci: ♫ ''so they know how good a doctor I am'' ♫ ♪
:Off-panel voice: Dr. Fauci? The press conference is in five.
:Dr. Fauci: Be right there!

Caption: It's nice to think about how serious and important people probably ''also'' absentmindedly sing made-up songs to pets.

{{comic discussion}}

2020-09-09T23:49:56Z

Youforgotthisthing:

2357: Polls vs the Street

2020-09-09T23:46:19Z

Youforgotthisthing:

1210: I'm So Random

2020-05-29T23:37:36Z

Youforgotthisthing: found an error in the so i fixed it

{{comic
| number = 1210
| date = May 10, 2013
| title = I'm So Random
| image = im so random.png
| titletext = In retrospect, it's weird that as a kid I thought completely random outbursts made me seem interesting, given that from an information theory point of view, lexical white noise is just about the opposite of interesting by definition.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Hairy]] walks up to [[Black Hat]], utters a nonsense phrase and them proclaims that he is "so random". This is a reference to a modern phenomenon in which people make "random" statements, and somehow imagine themselves to be funny and interesting because of this. Black Hat, never one to hesitate over bringing someone down, replies that he is also random. He then proves this by pouring forth a torrential stream of numbers that overcomes poor Hairy. Black Hat then resumes his posture at the computer, as if nothing has happened.

It is true that when brilliant and creative people speak passionately about a subject, they can make mental leaps and changes of context that might seem bewildering to an outsider. The conversation may even seem to be "random". However, simply vocalizing nonsense is not analogous, or even desirable; it is more likely a character trait of someone who has difficulty in following or adding to a normal human conversation.

Black Hat's "random" numbers are actually quoted from [http://oeis.org/A002205 the first lines] of ''{{w|A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates}}'' making it both "officially random", but also essentially not. This book is also referenced in [[1751: Movie Folder]]. See also: [[221: Random Number]].

A side note is that "Monkey tacos" is a phrase which contains two trochees. A {{w|trochee}} is a {{w|Foot_(prosody)|metric foot}} with one stressed beat and one unstressed beat; it may be a reference to or an unconscious allusion to [[856: Trochee Fixation]].

The title text elaborates on "random text", where [[Randall]] states that he once when he was a kid he believed that random outbursts, as Hairy's, would made him interesting despite the definition of "interesting" meaning the opposite. {{w|White noise}} is essentially random sounds waves which taken en masse blend into audio static essentially taking on a macroscopically uniform sound experience despite their random nature. This can be used in some sleep or relaxation therapies, which foils well with the random assault experienced in the comic. There are also other {{w|colors of noise}}, and yes, [[915: Connoisseur|people have strong opinions as to which one is better]].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is sitting in an office chair at a desk when Hairy runs up behind him with his arms raised up.]
:Hairy: ''Monkey tacos!''
:Hairy: I'm so random.

:[A frame-less panel pans to Black Hat and his desk, showing there is a computer on his desk and that he is actually typing on a keyboard in front of him on a lowered shelf.]
:Black Hat: Yeah, me too.

:[Black Hat swings in his chair around (as shown with a gray curved line beneath the chair at his feet) to face Hairy. Then he emits a massive speech bubble filled with gray random numbers that seems to emanate fro his mouth and then blow up. This torrent of random numbers knock Hairy to the ground as he shields his face with one arm while the other grasp for the floor to cushion the fall. Speech bubbles are not used normally, and in this one an arrow points at Black Hat's mouth. Where the arrow stops and the bubble "blows" up is the first number. But then there are two numbers in the next column and then three and so forth but as the numbers also grow bigger there are less numbers at the right side of the panel, than if they had stayed the same size. About 8-9 numbers are there above each other where the bubble leaves the panel. There is no numbers fully inside Hairy's head, although they do overlap where his arm comes up. It is for many reason difficult to read them in a particular order, but for reason explained above, there is actually some order, and using that order they should appear like this:]
:Black Hat:

:::: 100973253376520135863467354
:::: 876809590911739292749453754
:::: 204805648947429624805240372
:::: 063610402002291665084226895
:::: 319645093032320902560159533
:::: 476435080336069901902529093


:[With Hairy gone Black Hat has turned back and resumed working at his computer.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

2286: 6-Foot Zone

2020-03-28T19:34:53Z

Youforgotthisthing: Sadly Reverting A Cunning Proposition By An Amazing Individual

{{comic
| number = 2286
| date = March 27, 2020
| title = 6-Foot Zone
| image = 6_foot_zone.png
| titletext = Technically now it's a 34-foot zone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 8 HORSES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is the 11th comic in a row in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus pandemic|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}.

This comic is about {{w|social distancing}}, a common practice to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease. It has been suggested to maintain 6 feet (i.e. 1.83 m - in e.g. France and Britain the suggested distance is 2 m) of distance between yourself and other people, to prevent the transmission of respiratory droplets from you to others (or vice versa).

[[Randall]] takes this 6 feet of distance, and does calculations of the "area" of distancing, "border", population density, and "real estate value". He finally culminates in determining the number of horses that could also fit in the space.

Randall's border length and approximate area calculations are based on a zone with an outside radius of approximately 6.8 feet or 82 inches (2.07 m), meaning that the person has a radius of approximately 0.8 feet or 10 inches (0.24 m). That is, 2π(6.8ft) = 42.7 ft and π-1(6.8ft)-2 = 145 ft2.

Note that the population density figure contains an error; it should be 0.9069(π-1)(3.8ft)-2 = 560000 mi-2 but π-1(6.8ft)-2 = 190000 mi-2 is used instead. The figure of 3.8 ft rather than 6.8 ft gives people non-overlapping circles; if they stand 6 ft apart then circles drawn 6 ft from each person are overlapping. 0.9069 is the packing density of circles in the plane.

The title text is a pun using the alternate definition of foot, noting that a human has two feet and a horse has four, so 8 × 4 + 2 = 34 feet.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Guide to the 6 foot Social Distancing Zone
:Profile image of person with 6 foot distance measurements on both sides
:Overhead image of person within a roughly circular shape extending 6 feet in all directions from the person. The dimensions of the person account for the non-circular shape.
:Approximate area: 145 square feet
:Border length: 43 feet
:Population density: 190,000 people/square mile
:Value at NYC real estate price per square foot: $195,000
:Maximum number of horses that could fit inside it with you, estimated using the dimensions in the US Forest Service Equestrian Design Handbook: 8
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2286: 6-Foot Zone

2020-03-28T19:26:03Z

Youforgotthisthing: sadly reverting a cunning proposition by an amazing individual

2283: Exa-Exabyte

2020-03-20T22:43:05Z

Youforgotthisthing:

{{comic
| number = 2283
| date = March 20, 2020
| title = Exa-Exabyte
| image = exa_exabyte.png
| titletext = To picture 10^18, just picture 10^13, but then imagine you connect the left side of the 3 to close off the little bays.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 10 EXA-EXABYTES OF APPLES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Randall has taken a break from his [[:Category: COVID-19|COVID-19 series]].

This is a comic about the difficulty of picturing or understanding large numbers. As mentioned in the comic, an {{w|exabyte}} is 10^18 bytes, while an "exa-exabyte" -- not a real word but one that makes sense if you apply the principles of {{w|Metric prefix|metric prefixes}} -- is 10^36 bytes. According to research reported by the New York Times, there is [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/science/counting-all-the-dna-on-earth.html 50 trillion trillion trillion] DNA base pairs on Earth -- 5 * 10^37 "bytes" of data. This is similar to [[Blondie]]'s claim of 10 exa-exabytes -- 1 * 10^37 bytes.

These numbers are larger than most people can imagine. Even much smaller numbers such as a billion or a trillion are hard to imagine. For instance:
* 1 billion seconds is equal to 31.7 years; 1 trillion seconds is equal to 31688.74 years.
* [https://medium.com/@alecmuffett/a-billion-grains-of-rice-91202220e10e 1 billion grains of rice] weighs approximately 34,447 lb (15,625 kg)

[[Megan]] trivializes the problem away by describing an exabyte as 10 apples, with "18 smaller apples, floating next to them and a little above", representing the notation 10^18 using apples for digits. This is entirely unhelpful, as apples, whatever their position, don't represent exponents, and this causes Blondie to yell out "No!" in frustration. The title text further trivializes the problem of visualizing large numbers by suggesting that you can visualize 10^18 as a number by simply visualizing the similar-looking number of 10^13 with some extra lines drawn to turn the 3 into an 8. Changes in exponents can cause huge changes in the value shown, and this is no exception: Changing that 3 into an 8 changes the value by a factor of 100,000.

[[1605: DNA]] also discusses how "hard" biology is.

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

:[Blondie is teaching a class, and is speaking to Cueball to her left, who is sitting at a desk. She holds a pointer, and is pointing to a blackboard.]
:Blondie: Biology is hard because there's so ''much'' of it. Earth hosts about 10 exa-exabytes worth of DNA.

:[In a frameless panel, the panel has panned to the left and is now showing Blondie, Cueball sitting at a desk and Megan also sitting at a desk, behind Cueball. Blondie holds the pointer to her side.]
:Cueball: What's an exa-exabyte?
:Blondie: It's 1036 bytes.
:Cueball: How do I picture ''that''?
:Blondie: Imagine you had an exabyte of data, but each byte ''contained'' an exabyte of data.

:[Zoomed in on Cueball]
:Cueball: I can't even picture what an exabyte is.
:Blondie (off screen): It's 1018 bytes.
:Cueball: But how do I picture 1018?

:[Zoomed back out, showing Megan, Cueball, and Blondie]
:Megan: Imagine you had 10 apples.
:Megan: Now imagine 18 smaller apples, floating next to them and a little above.
:Cueball: Cool, got it.
:Blondie: ''No!''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Biology]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]