https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.74.155&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T11:24:05ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1980:_Turkish_Delight&diff=1982841980: Turkish Delight2020-10-01T02:13:34Z<p>162.158.74.155: add Category:Food</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1980<br />
| date = April 13, 2018<br />
| title = Turkish Delight<br />
| image = turkish_delight.png<br />
| titletext = I take it Narnia doesn't have Cinnabons? Because if you can magic up a plate of those, I'll betray whoever.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
''{{w|The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe}}'' is a fantasy novel by British novelist {{w|C. S. Lewis}}, the first published and best known of seven novels in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''. In it, a group of four sibling children discover another world called Narnia. At the beginning of the story, the land is in a perpetual winter caused by the {{w|White Witch}} (the antagonist of the story). One of the children, {{w|Edmund Pevensie}}, is approached by the White Witch and offered {{w|Turkish delight}}, a type of confection, in exchange for leading the other children to her. What the book says and what the movie leaves out is he doesn't know the sweets are enchanted by the White Witch to make the eater want them the more they eat them. Not a full mind control, but more of a strong urge to get more.<br />
<br />
Turkish delight is very different from typical confections found in the modern Western world and isn't very popular in the United States. The primary flavoring agent of Turkish Delights, rosewater, has a strong perfume-like taste and is generally considered an acquired taste for western palates. [[Randall]], who has made comics about [[388: Fuck Grapefruit|being unimpressed by food]] in the past, comments that he was very disappointed when he tried Turkish delight, especially after having read in the novel about how delicious the characters considered it. If he were in Edmund's shoes, he would not have been persuaded.<br />
<br />
[http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2005/12/the_lion_the_witch_and_the_really_foul_candy.html It is not uncommon for present-day Narnia fans to be disappointed when they try Turkish delight], as different as it is to modern confections. However, in the late Victorian era when Lewis grew up, [https://www.tor.com/2016/08/08/why-was-turkish-delight-the-ultimate-temptation-in-c-s-lewis-narnia/ Turkish delight was very popular in England]. Because it was nearly impossible for local confectioners to make properly, it had to be imported from Turkey, at great expense, making it a status symbol for the wealthy and a rare treat for those with less money. When Lewis wanted to come up with the perfect temptation for Edmund, he drew on his own childhood memories of a favorite rare and expensive treat--which would have been even harder to come by because of [https://flashbak.com/sugar-rationing-in-world-war-2-photos-13598/ sugar rationing during World War II], when the story was set. It also serves to emphasize how powerful the White Witch is for her to be able to offer such an expensive and hard-to-obtain treat so easily.<br />
<br />
{{w|Cinnabon}} (referenced in the title text) is a popular chain restaurant in the USA which serves mostly {{w|cinnamon roll|cinnamon buns}} covered in a thick, sugary glaze. The chain is not well known in Britain, but has recently opened a [https://www.cinnabon.co.uk/store-locator/ few restaurants], mainly in the London area. (A more common UK equivalent of the cinnamon bun is the {{w|Chelsea bun}}.) There are presumably no branches of Cinnabon in Narnia.{{Citation needed}} Randall is saying that he finds cinnamon buns delicious, to the point where he would betray anyone for them.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A person wearing a cap, a fur coat, and gloves sits in a sled handing over a plate with small cubic pieces on it to a small boy with dark hair standing beneath. The boy reaches one hand to the plate.]<br />
:Person in the sled: Have some Turkish delight. If you betray your family, there's more where that came from.<br />
<br />
:[The boy tastes one piece.]<br />
<br />
:[The boy looks at that piece.]<br />
<br />
:[The boy looks up, to the direction where the gift came from, the piece still in his hands.]<br />
:Boy: Wow.<br />
:Boy: This is ... not great.<br />
<br />
:[Caption below:]<br />
:The ''Narnia'' books gave me a really unrealistic impression of how good Turkish delight tastes.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The world of Narnia is a recurring theme in [[xkcd]], with previous prominent appearances in [[665: Prudence]], [[821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3]], [[969: Delta-P]], and [[1786: Trash]].<br />
*Randall has previously expressed disappointment when the taste of a food item does not match a promise implicit in its name. If Turkish Delight is not a delight, likewise Red Delicious apples are not delicious, according to [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]] and [[1766: Apple Spectrum]] and a footnote on [https://books.google.com/books?id=tgZIBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q&f=false this What If page].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Chronicles of Narnia]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]</div>162.158.74.155https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2341:_Scientist_Tech_Help&diff=195543Talk:2341: Scientist Tech Help2020-08-04T18:10:42Z<p>162.158.74.155: New viewpoint on the title text</p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
First. [[User:Unpopular Opinions|Goodbye, world!]] ([[User talk:Unpopular Opinions|talk]]) 23:19, 3 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
But more importantly, I added a transcript and added definitions for a Polaroid and Excel. Also, how should I deal with multiple Cueballs in the transcript? [[User:Unpopular Opinions|Goodbye, world!]] ([[User talk:Unpopular Opinions|talk]]) 23:35, 3 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
: I don't think it is 2 Cueballs. I think the one on the right is Cueball and I don't recognise the other one. He is drawn slightly differently, he's got a bit of a butt-head (crack-head?). [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 07:23, 4 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I know of a team whose data was in the form of images - tens of thousands of them. Somehow during a pre-processing step they lost the exif data for the image files - which held the only digital link between the image file which had names assigned by the cameras like Img237856.png and their science which needed things like date and time of the image..... Fortunately the image itself had the date and time in a banner across the bottom 100 pixels. Managed to read the banner using OCR and tesseract. Not so very far off the thrust of this comic! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.134|162.158.126.134]] 00:08, 4 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I feel old when I know that Polaroid was not a disposable camera; it was an instant camera, meaning that the picture was taken, the film was slowly ejected from the camera body and you held the picture as it developed before your eyes. There were one-time use cameras, or "disposable" cameras, that were made cheaply and the camera was sent in for processing. Yes, probably incomprehensible to one so young to not know what a rotary dial desk phone (or wall phone) was. [[User:Doubting Thomas|Doubting Thomas]] ([[User talk:Doubting Thomas|talk]]) 00:41, 4 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I think the resentment stems from the ugly truth that such tool is needed in the first place? Is that a possibility? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.229|172.69.134.229]] 01:48, 4 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Don't the scientists own the data since they collected it on their own equipment?[[User:Nk1406|Nk1406]] ([[User talk:Nk1406|talk]]) 13:51, 4 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
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"As you can see from the graphs, we detected significant Gravity Wave events on average once every 30-40 days for the whole two years of the observations, except for ''this'' short period where we seemed to get a consistently low level of background noise hum, that we have yet to fully connect with any of our existing astrophysical theories..." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.131|162.158.154.131]] 10:17, 4 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
A serious suggestion: instead of webplotdigitizer, if you want to grab data off a chart image, get the java-based DataThief, https://datathief.org/ . It's fast, very customizable, can handle a certain amount of image distortion, i.e. X and Y axes not perpendicular in the crappy image your uncle sent you. [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 10:42, 4 August 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I thought that the title text meant that webplotdigitizer is being recommended in this sintuation, and that past recommendations for similar problems were ignored. They irrationally hold out hope that the software will be used and remembered by the scientists. Operating the software is also not the interesting challenge the tech people were hoping to be presented to them. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.155|162.158.74.155]] 18:10, 4 August 2020 (UTC)</div>162.158.74.155https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2258:_Solar_System_Changes&diff=186324Talk:2258: Solar System Changes2020-01-23T02:04:10Z<p>162.158.74.155: </p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
* '''Support''' except keep Uranus. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.181|172.68.189.181]] 19:16, 22 January 2020 (UTC)<br />
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Wait ... WHAT??? Why isn't Niburu in this???? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 19:22, 22 January 2020 (UTC)<br />
Its similar to https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1902:_State_Borders [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.102|172.68.47.102]] 19:37, 22 January 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
* What Venus has been through<br />
<br />
For "what Venus has been through" see [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/giant-planetary-smashup-may-have-turned-venus-hot-and-hellish-180958377/] [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.97|173.245.52.97]] 19:44, 22 January 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I feel like the transcript is unnecessary because it's wholly redundant with the table here. Anyone object to merging the two sections? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.164|172.69.22.164]] 20:45, 22 January 2020 (UTC)<br />
* See the transcript for [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1902:_State_Borders State Borders]. I think we still need to have a transcript, since the locations of the arrows and other marks aren't made clear in the table. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.27|162.158.74.27]] 20:57, 22 January 2020 (UTC)<br />
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Note that in future, we may be actually able to implement some of those changes ... however, at that point the consolidation of missions to Moon and Mars wouldn't be relevant :-). Also, I would be against: most of those changes would be likely to make our solar system considerably less stable. Except Venus would really deserve some moon. Just small one, it doesn't need to be as big as ours. Also, we should light up Jupiter, to warm it's moons (this is one of {{w|Arthur C. Clarke|Clarke}}'s ideas). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:37, 23 January 2020 (UTC)<br />
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Wow - I only just noticed that "Jaturn" has Saturn's hexagon at the top. Should this be highlighted in the table? After all, it is cool science: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2010-07-06 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.155|162.158.74.155]] 02:04, 23 January 2020 (UTC)</div>162.158.74.155https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2258:_Solar_System_Changes&diff=1863232258: Solar System Changes2020-01-23T02:01:34Z<p>162.158.74.155: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2258<br />
| date = January 22, 2020<br />
| title = Solar System Changes<br />
| image = solar_system_changes.png<br />
| titletext = "Actually, Jupiter already has a very impressive ring system!" --someone who knows Jupiter is within earshot<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a MYSTERIOUS PLANET. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic proposes changing the Solar System in a way that would be impossible in practice. In doing so, it and the title text anthropomorphize several of the planets, pretending that they have feelings that could be hurt.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! Proposed change !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit || In the 19th century, scientists found discrepancies between Mercury's predicted orbit and observations. They proposed a hypothetical planet, {{w|Vulcan (hypothetical planet)|Vulcan}}, to account for this discrepancy. After general relativity was discovered by Albert Einstein in the 20th century, it was found to account for these discrepancies.<br />
|-<br />
| After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon || Billions of years ago, Venus and Earth are believed to have been almost identical objects orbiting the Sun. However, orbiting somewhat closer to the Sun, Venus became sufficiently hot that its oceans evaporated, cloaking the surface with gases that caused the Sun's heat to become trapped. This made the planet even hotter, causing a [https://www.xkcd.com/1519/ runaway greenhouse effect], and ultimately Venus became very much hotter than the Earth. On top of that, Venus was almost certainly hit by an enormous object, hard enough that its spin was completely reversed. Randall may be saying that Venus has fared so badly throughout its life that it deserves some compensation, like rings or a moon.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, Randall could be referring to how we see Venus now as opposed to in the past. A hundred years ago, scientists considered Venus and Mars to be equally likely candidates for life and future human exploration - one being a little warmer than Earth and the other a little colder. However, when we sent spacecraft to Venus and Mars in the 1960s, we quickly discovered that [https://what-if.xkcd.com/30/ Venus is a terrible place]. Its atmosphere is more than 90 times as dense as Earth's and its surface temperature is over 450° C (800° F), not to mention the sulfuric acid rain. Spacecraft that have landed on its surface have lasted a couple hours at most. As a result, missions to Venus have become far rarer since the 1960s, while missions to Mars have remained frequent. Randall might be saying that most people don't consider Venus to be nearly as fascinating place as they used to, and that it would be far more interesting with rings, or at least a moon like Earth or Mars.<br />
|-<br />
| Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions. || Mars has a lot more geological variety than the moon{{Citation needed}}, and would therefore look far more interesting than the moon when seen from Earth. In addition, by making Mars a moon of the Earth, sending spacecraft to the moon and Mars wouldn't require separate missions and could thus be consolidated into a single one.<br />
<br />
Incidentally, the Moon is thought to have been formed by an impact between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. While Randall probably means well, the situation could get out of control very quickly.<br />
|-<br />
| The solar system needs a super-Earth || {{w|Super-Earth|Super-Earths}} are a type of {{w|Exoplanet|exoplanet}} -- a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun -- that are significantly larger than Earth but significantly smaller than the gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). While they are relatively common among systems in which smaller exoplanets have been found, our Solar System doesn't have any super-Earths. With a super-Earth nearby, astronomers would be able to get a much better idea of what they are like. A super-Earth might also be an exciting place to colonize. <br />
|-<br />
| More asteroids! || Asteroids belts are usually portrayed in fiction as being incredibly crowded with asteroids, so much so that they pose a significant hazard for spaceships. In reality, the asteroid belt is much more boring, as most large asteroids are millions of miles from their nearest neighbor. The number of asteroids in the asteroid belt is indeterminate, as they range in size from dwarf planets {{w|Asteroid|down to about a meter across}}, and more than 100,000 have been found. Despite this, the density of asteroids in the belt is low enough that spacecraft have no problem flying through the belt untouched. Randall wants more asteroids.<br />
|-<br />
| Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn") || Jupiter is the largest planet, with a volume larger than all other planets combined, and it displays striking weather patterns such as the {{w|Great Red Spot}}. Saturn, with its prominent ring system, is perhaps the most spectacular, but the planet itself looks very bland. Randall would merge the two, creating one planet that would dominate by both size and appearance.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to {{w|Rings of Jupiter|Jupiter's rings}}, which exist but which are not nearly as prominent as Saturn's. However, considering that Jupiter is known to disrupt the asteroid belt and send asteroids towards the inner solar system (cf. {{w|Kirkwood gap}}) and completely destroy other celestial bodies ({{w|Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9}}), someone who is "within earshot" of Jupiter may wish to avoid insulting the planet by implying that its ring system is not already very impressive. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair. || Uranus and Neptune are often regarded as being planetary "fraternal twins." Both have approximately the same size, the same mass, and the same composition - they even have similarly bizarre magnetic fields. Uranus's most notable trait is that its axial tilt is almost 98°, meaning it lies on its side and has a seasonal cycle unlike that of any other planet. However, this causes Uranus to look completely featureless most of the time, which makes it less interesting, while Neptune has more active weather patterns, including, episodically, a {{w|Great Dark Spot}} similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The name "Uranus" is also {{tvtropes|UranusIsShowing|subject to ridicule}} by English speakers.<br />
|-<br />
| Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune || Pluto was considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 until 2006, when the International Astronomical Union changed its definition of "planet" and reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. However, many people who grew up with Pluto listed as the ninth planet of the solar system were unhappy with the change, a topic that has been the topic of several other xkcd comics ([[473: Still Raw]], [[1551: Pluto]], [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]], etc.). Randall proposes a {{w|Solomonic compromise}} to "satisfy" both the camps who prefer to think of Pluto as "not a dwarf planet" and "not a planet" by making it into a moon.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, one of the original hypotheses for Pluto's origin is that it and Triton were originally both moons of Neptune, but Triton knocked Pluto out of its orbit into a new orbit around the sun, while Triton remained with Neptune.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
Randall has in the past proposed other types of ridiculous changes, such as in [[1061: EST]], [[1069: Alphabet]], and [[1902: State Borders]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[A very-not-to-scale diagram of the solar system is shown, featuring all eight planets along with their major moons, Pluto (along with its major moon), and the asteroid belt. Caption at the top:] Changes I Would Make to the Solar System<br />
<br />
[The following edit marks are shown in red:]<br />
<br />
[Three additional planets have been drawn in between Mercury and the Sun, with a bracket highlighting them] Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit<br />
<br />
[A ring has been drawn around Venus, and a dot representing a moon has been added on its left] After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon<br />
<br />
[The moon is crossed out, and Mars has been circled. An arrow from Mars to the moon has been drawn in] Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions.<br />
<br />
[An additional planet has been added between Mars and the asteroid belt, about halfway in size between Earth and Neptune. Four continents are visible., along with an atmosphere] The solar system needs a super-Earth<br />
<br />
[Numerous red asteroids have been drawn in, adding to the few asteroids that were already there] More asteroids!<br />
<br />
[Jupiter and Saturn have both been crossed out. An arrow points from each to a new planet drawn above the two. This new planet has the belts, zones, Red Spot, and size of Jupiter, and the hexagon and rings of Saturn, as well as the five moons from both original planets] Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn")<br />
<br />
[Uranus is crossed out] Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair.<br />
<br />
[Pluto and Charon have been circled. An arrow points from Pluto and Charon to the right side of Neptune, where Pluto and Charon have been redrawn] Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]</div>162.158.74.155https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2258:_Solar_System_Changes&diff=1863222258: Solar System Changes2020-01-23T01:49:11Z<p>162.158.74.155: runaway greenhouse effect</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2258<br />
| date = January 22, 2020<br />
| title = Solar System Changes<br />
| image = solar_system_changes.png<br />
| titletext = "Actually, Jupiter already has a very impressive ring system!" --someone who knows Jupiter is within earshot<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a MYSTERIOUS PLANET. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic proposes changing the Solar System in a way that would be impossible in practice. In doing so, it and the title text anthropomorphize several of the planets, pretending that they have feelings that could be hurt.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! Proposed change !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit || In the 19th century, scientists found discrepancies between Mercury's predicted orbit and observations. They proposed a hypothetical planet, {{w|Vulcan (hypothetical planet)|Vulcan}}, to account for this discrepancy. After general relativity was discovered by Albert Einstein in the 20th century, it was found to account for these discrepancies.<br />
|-<br />
| After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon || Billions of years ago, Venus and Earth are believed to have been almost identical objects orbiting the Sun. However, orbiting somewhat closer to the Sun, Venus became sufficiently hot that its oceans evaporated, cloaking the surface with gases that caused the Sun's heat to become trapped. This made the planet even hotter, causing a [https://www.xkcd.com/1519/ runaway greenhouse effect], and ultimately Venus became very much hotter than the Earth. On top of that, Venus was almost certainly hit by an enormous object, hard enough that its spin was completely reversed. Randall may be saying that Venus has fared so badly throughout its life that it deserves some compensation, like rings or a moon.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, Randall could be referring to how we see Venus now as opposed to in the past. A hundred years ago, scientists considered Venus and Mars to be equally likely candidates for life and future human exploration - one being a little warmer than Earth and the other a little colder. However, when we sent spacecraft to Venus and Mars in the 1960s, we quickly discovered that [https://what-if.xkcd.com/30/ Venus is a terrible place]. Its atmosphere is more than 90 times as dense as Earth's and its surface temperature is over 450° C (800° F), not to mention the sulfuric acid rain. Spacecraft that have landed on its surface have lasted a couple hours at most. As a result, missions to Venus have become far rarer since the 1960s, while missions to Mars have remained frequent. Randall might be saying that most people don't consider Venus to be nearly as fascinating place as they used to, and that it would be far more interesting with rings, or at least a moon like Earth or Mars.<br />
|-<br />
| Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions. || Mars has a lot more geological variety than the moon{{Citation needed}}, and would therefore look far more interesting than the moon when seen from Earth. In addition, by making Mars a moon of the Earth, sending spacecraft to the moon and Mars wouldn't require separate missions and could thus be consolidated into a single one.<br />
<br />
Incidentally, the Moon is thought to have been formed by an impact between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. While Randall probably means well, the situation could get out of control very quickly.<br />
|-<br />
| The solar system needs a super-Earth || {{w|Super-Earth|Super-Earths}} are a type of {{w|Exoplanet|exoplanet}} -- a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun -- that are significantly larger than Earth but significantly smaller than the gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). While they are relatively common among systems in which smaller exoplanets have been found, our Solar System doesn't have any super-Earths. With a super-Earth nearby, astronomers would be able to get a much better idea of what they are like. A super-Earth might also be an exciting place to colonize. <br />
|-<br />
| More asteroids! || Asteroids belts are usually portrayed in fiction as being incredibly crowded with asteroids, so much so that they pose a significant hazard for spaceships. In reality, the asteroid belt is much more boring, as most large asteroids are millions of miles from their nearest neighbor. The number of asteroids in the asteroid belt is indeterminate, as they range in size from dwarf planets {{w|Asteroid|down to about a meter across}}, and more than 100,000 have been found. Despite this, the density of asteroids in the belt is low enough that spacecraft have no problem flying through the belt untouched. Randall wants more asteroids.<br />
|-<br />
| Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn") || Jupiter is the largest planet, with a volume larger than all other planets combined, and it displays striking weather patterns such as the {{w|Great Red Spot}}. Saturn, with its prominent ring system, is perhaps the most spectacular, but the planet itself looks very bland. Randall would merge the two, creating one planet that would dominate by both size and appearance.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to {{w|Rings of Jupiter|Jupiter's rings}}, which exist but which are not nearly as prominent as Saturn's. However, considering that Jupiter is known to disrupt the asteroid belt and send asteroids towards the inner solar system (cf. {{w|Kirkwood gap}}) and completely destroy other celestial bodies ({{w|Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9}}), someone who is "within earshot" of Jupiter may wish to avoid insulting the planet by implying that its ring system is not already very impressive. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair. || Uranus and Neptune are often regarded as being planetary "fraternal twins." Both have approximately the same size, the same mass, and the same composition - they even have similarly bizarre magnetic fields. Uranus's most notable trait is that its axial tilt is almost 98°, meaning it lies on its side and has a seasonal cycle unlike that of any other planet. However, this causes Uranus to look completely featureless most of the time, which makes it less interesting, while Neptune has more active weather patterns, including, episodically, a {{w|Great Dark Spot}} similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The name "Uranus" is also {{tvtropes|UranusIsShowing|subject to ridicule}} by English speakers.<br />
|-<br />
| Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune || Pluto was considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 until 2006, when the International Astronomical Union changed its definition of "planet" and reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. However, many people who grew up with Pluto listed as the ninth planet of the solar system were unhappy with the change, a topic that has been the topic of several other xkcd comics ([[473: Still Raw]], [[1551: Pluto]], [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]], etc.). Randall proposes a {{w|Solomonic compromise}} to "satisfy" both the camps who prefer to think of Pluto as "not a dwarf planet" and "not a planet" by making it into a moon.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, one of the original hypotheses for Pluto's origin is that it and Triton were originally both moons of Neptune, but Triton knocked Pluto out of its orbit into a new orbit around the sun, while Triton remained with Neptune.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
Randall has in the past proposed other types of ridiculous changes, such as in [[1061: EST]], [[1069: Alphabet]], and [[1902: State Borders]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]</div>162.158.74.155https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2258:_Solar_System_Changes&diff=1863212258: Solar System Changes2020-01-23T01:44:37Z<p>162.158.74.155: Lengthened and altered various explanations</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2258<br />
| date = January 22, 2020<br />
| title = Solar System Changes<br />
| image = solar_system_changes.png<br />
| titletext = "Actually, Jupiter already has a very impressive ring system!" --someone who knows Jupiter is within earshot<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a MYSTERIOUS PLANET. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic proposes changing the Solar System in a way that would be impossible in practice. In doing so, it and the title text anthropomorphize several of the planets, pretending that they have feelings that could be hurt.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! Proposed change !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit || In the 19th century, scientists found discrepancies between Mercury's predicted orbit and observations. They proposed a hypothetical planet, {{w|Vulcan (hypothetical planet)|Vulcan}}, to account for this discrepancy. After general relativity was discovered by Albert Einstein in the 20th century, it was found to account for these discrepancies.<br />
|-<br />
| After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon || Billions of years ago, Venus and Earth are believed to have been almost identical objects orbiting the Sun. However, orbiting somewhat closer to the Sun, Venus became sufficiently hot that its oceans evaporated, cloaking the surface with gases that caused the Sun's heat to become trapped. This made the planet even hotter, and ultimately Venus became very much hotter than the Earth. On top of that, Venus was almost certainly hit by an enormous object, hard enough that its spin was completely reversed. Randall may be saying that Venus has fared so badly throughout its life that it deserves some compensation, like rings or a moon.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, Randall could be referring to how we see Venus now as opposed to in the past. A hundred years ago, scientists considered Venus and Mars to be equally likely candidates for life and future human exploration - one being a little warmer than Earth and the other a little colder. However, when we sent spacecraft to Venus and Mars in the 1960s, we quickly discovered that [https://what-if.xkcd.com/30/ Venus is a terrible place]. Its atmosphere is more than 90 times as dense as Earth's and its surface temperature is over 450° C (800° F), not to mention the sulfuric acid rain. Spacecraft that have landed on its surface have lasted a couple hours at most. As a result, missions to Venus have become far rarer since the 1960s, while missions to Mars have remained frequent. Randall might be saying that most people don't consider Venus to be nearly as fascinating place as they used to, and that it would be far more interesting with rings, or at least a moon like Earth or Mars.<br />
|-<br />
| Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions. || Mars has a lot more geological variety than the moon{{Citation needed}}, and would therefore look far more interesting than the moon when seen from Earth. In addition, by making Mars a moon of the Earth, sending spacecraft to the moon and Mars wouldn't require separate missions and could thus be consolidated into a single one.<br />
<br />
Incidentally, the Moon is thought to have been formed by an impact between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. While Randall probably means well, the situation could get out of control very quickly.<br />
|-<br />
| The solar system needs a super-Earth || {{w|Super-Earth|Super-Earths}} are a type of {{w|Exoplanet|exoplanet}} -- a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun -- that are significantly larger than Earth but significantly smaller than the gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). While they are relatively common among systems in which smaller exoplanets have been found, our Solar System doesn't have any super-Earths. With a super-Earth nearby, astronomers would be able to get a much better idea of what they are like. A super-Earth might also be an exciting place to colonize. <br />
|-<br />
| More asteroids! || Asteroids belts are usually portrayed in fiction as being incredibly crowded with asteroids, so much so that they pose a significant hazard for spaceships. In reality, the asteroid belt is much more boring, as most large asteroids are millions of miles from their nearest neighbor. The number of asteroids in the asteroid belt is indeterminate, as they range in size from dwarf planets {{w|Asteroid|down to about a meter across}}, and more than 100,000 have been found. Despite this, the density of asteroids in the belt is low enough that spacecraft have no problem flying through the belt untouched. Randall wants more asteroids.<br />
|-<br />
| Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn") || Jupiter is the largest planet, with a volume larger than all other planets combined, and it displays striking weather patterns such as the {{w|Great Red Spot}}. Saturn, with its prominent ring system, is perhaps the most spectacular, but the planet itself looks very bland. Randall would merge the two, creating one planet that would dominate by both size and appearance.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to {{w|Rings of Jupiter|Jupiter's rings}}, which exist but which are not nearly as prominent as Saturn's. However, considering that Jupiter is known to disrupt the asteroid belt and send asteroids towards the inner solar system (cf. {{w|Kirkwood gap}}) and completely destroy other celestial bodies ({{w|Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9}}), someone who is "within earshot" of Jupiter may wish to avoid insulting the planet by implying that its ring system is not already very impressive. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair. || Uranus and Neptune are often regarded as being planetary "fraternal twins." Both have approximately the same size, the same mass, and the same composition - they even have similarly bizarre magnetic fields. Uranus's most notable trait is that its axial tilt is almost 98°, meaning it lies on its side and has a seasonal cycle unlike that of any other planet. However, this causes Uranus to look completely featureless most of the time, which makes it less interesting, while Neptune has more active weather patterns, including, episodically, a {{w|Great Dark Spot}} similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The name "Uranus" is also {{tvtropes|UranusIsShowing|subject to ridicule}} by English speakers.<br />
|-<br />
| Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune || Pluto was considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 until 2006, when the International Astronomical Union changed its definition of "planet" and reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. However, many people who grew up with Pluto listed as the ninth planet of the solar system were unhappy with the change, a topic that has been the topic of several other xkcd comics ([[473: Still Raw]], [[1551: Pluto]], [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]], etc.). Randall proposes a {{w|Solomonic compromise}} to "satisfy" both the camps who prefer to think of Pluto as "not a dwarf planet" and "not a planet" by making it into a moon.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, one of the original hypotheses for Pluto's origin is that it and Triton were originally both moons of Neptune, but Triton knocked Pluto out of its orbit into a new orbit around the sun, while Triton remained with Neptune.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
Randall has in the past proposed other types of ridiculous changes, such as in [[1061: EST]], [[1069: Alphabet]], and [[1902: State Borders]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]</div>162.158.74.155https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2258:_Solar_System_Changes&diff=1863192258: Solar System Changes2020-01-23T01:28:59Z<p>162.158.74.155: added explanation for "mars is more interesting"</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2258<br />
| date = January 22, 2020<br />
| title = Solar System Changes<br />
| image = solar_system_changes.png<br />
| titletext = "Actually, Jupiter already has a very impressive ring system!" --someone who knows Jupiter is within earshot<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a MYSTERIOUS PLANET. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic proposes changing the Solar System in a way that would be impossible in practice. In doing so, it and the title text anthropomorphize several of the planets, pretending that they have feelings that could be hurt.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! Proposed change !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit || In the 19th century, scientists found discrepancies between Mercury's predicted orbit and observations. They proposed a hypothetical planet, {{w|Vulcan (hypothetical planet)|Vulcan}}, to account for this discrepancy. After general relativity was discovered by Albert Einstein in the 20th century, it was found to account for these discrepancies.<br />
|-<br />
| After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon || Billions of years ago, Venus and Earth are believed to have been almost identical objects orbiting the Sun. However, orbiting somewhat closer to the Sun, Venus became sufficiently hot that its oceans evaporated, cloaking the surface with gases that caused the Sun's heat to become trapped. This made the planet even hotter, and ultimately Venus became very much hotter than the Earth. On top of that, Venus was almost certainly hit by an enormous object, hard enough that its spin was completely reversed. Randall may be saying that Venus has fared so badly throughout its life that it deserves some compensation, like rings or a moon.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, Randall could be referring to how we see Venus now as opposed to in the past. A hundred years ago, scientists considered Venus and Mars to be equally likely candidates for life and future human exploration - one being a little warmer than Earth and the other a little colder. However, when we sent spacecraft to Venus and Mars in the 1960s, we quickly discovered that [https://what-if.xkcd.com/30/ Venus is a terrible place]. Its atmosphere is more than 90 times as dense as Earth's and its surface temperature is over 450° C (800° F), not to mention the sulfuric acid rain. Spacecraft that have landed on its surface have lasted a couple hours at most. As a result, missions to Venus have become far rarer since the 1960s, while missions to Mars have remained frequent. Randall might be saying that most people don't consider Venus to be nearly as fascinating place as they used to, and that it would be far more interesting with rings, or at least a moon like Earth or Mars.<br />
|-<br />
| Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions. || Mars has a lot more geological variety than the moon{{Citation needed}}, and would therefore look far more interesting than the moon when seen from Earth. In addition, by making Mars a moon of the Earth, sending spacecraft to the moon and Mars wouldn't require separate missions and could thus be consolidated into a single one.<br />
<br />
Incidentally, the Moon is thought to have been formed by an impact between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. While Randall probably means well, the situation could get out of control very quickly.<br />
|-<br />
| The solar system needs a super-Earth || Super-Earths are a type of exoplanet -- a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun -- that are significantly larger than Earth but significantly smaller than the gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). They are relatively common among systems in which smaller exoplanets have been found. <br />
|-<br />
| More asteroids! || Asteroids belts are usually portrayed in fiction as being incredibly crowded with asteroids, so much so that they pose a significant hazard for spaceships. In reality, the asteroid belt is much more boring, as most large asteroids are millions of miles from their nearest neighbor. The number of asteroids in the asteroid belt is indeterminate, as they range in size from dwarf planet {{w|Asteroid belt|down to speck of dust}} or smaller, and more than 100,000 have been found. Despite this, the density of asteroids in the belt is low enough that spacecraft have no problem flying through the belt untouched. Randall wants more asteroids.<br />
|-<br />
| Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn") || Jupiter is the largest planet, with a volume larger than all other planets combined. Saturn, with its prominent ring system, is perhaps the most spectacular. Randall would merge the two, creating one planet that would dominate by both size and appearance.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to {{w|Rings of Jupiter|Jupiter's rings}}, which exist but which are not nearly as prominent as Saturn's. However, considering that Jupiter is known to disrupt the asteroid belt and send asteroids towards the inner solar system (cf. {{w|Kirkwood gap}}) and completely destroy other celestial bodies ({{w|Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9}}), someone who is "within earshot" of Jupiter may wish to avoid insulting the planet by implying that its ring system is not already very impressive. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair. || Uranus and Neptune are often regarded as being planetary "fraternal twins." Both have approximately the same size, the same mass, and the same composition - they even have similarly bizarre magnetic fields. Randall likely considers Uranus to be less interesting than Neptune because it looks completely bland most of the time, while Neptune has more active weather patterns, including, episodically, a {{w|Great Dark Spot}} similar to Jupiter's {{w|Great Red Spot}}. Uranus's most notable trait is that its axial tilt is almost 98°, meaning it lies on its side and has a seasonal cycle unlike that of any other planet. The name "Uranus" is also {{tvtropes|UranusIsShowing|subject to ridicule}} by English speakers.<br />
|-<br />
| Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune || Pluto was considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 until 2006, when the International Astronomical Union changed its definition of "planet" and reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. However, many people who grew up with Pluto listed as the ninth planet of the solar system were unhappy with the change, a topic that has been the topic of several other xkcd comics ([[473: Still Raw]], [[1551: Pluto]], [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]], etc.). Randall proposes a {{w|Solomonic compromise}} to "satisfy" both the camps who prefer to think of Pluto as "not a dwarf planet" and "not a planet" by making it into a moon.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, one of the original hypotheses for Pluto's origin is that it and Triton were originally both moons of Neptune, but Triton knocked Pluto out of its orbit into a new orbit around the sun, while Triton remained with Neptune.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
Randall has in the past proposed other types of ridiculous changes, such as in [[1061: EST]], [[1069: Alphabet]], and [[1902: State Borders]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]</div>162.158.74.155