Editing 2993: Ingredients

{{comic
| number    = 2993
| date      = October 2, 2024
| title     = Ingredients
| image     = ingredients_2x.png
| imagesize = 417x473px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = Add main-belt asteroids to taste.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a THE FIVE BEST EXPLAINXKCD USERS COMBINED INTO ONE - Table of each moons with its special ingredients as well as the volume and surface area, and compare the combined volume and combined surface area to that of Mars (also check both the actual surface area of the five as well as the surface area of a sphere with the total moons volume, which would be a much smaller surface area than of the five moons sum of surface area... Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic jokes that it is possible (and perhaps intended) to use the five largest moons in the outer solar system (the {{w|Galilean moons}} and {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}) as ingredients to create a “better” planet that has the “coolest features”. Apparently, though, Randall couldn't actually think of anything cool that {{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}} and {{w|Callisto (moon)|Callisto}} could contribute, so these have just been used as 'filler'. (Though Ganymede has a magnetic field, which is kind of cool...)

Note that {{w|Moon|Earth's moon}} is the fifth-largest moon of the solar system overall ({{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}} is the sixth), so it would have been included had  "outer solar system" not been specified.

{| class=wikitable
! scope="col" | Name of Moon
! Scope=“col” | Ingredient
! scope="col" | Volume (km<sup>3</sup>)
! Scope=“col” | Surface Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
! scope="col" | Mass (kg)
|-
| Io || Sulfur || 2.53×10<sup>10</sup> || 4.17×10<sup>7</sup> || 0.894×10<sup>23</sup>
|-
| Europa || Oceans || 1.59×10<sup>10</sup> || 3.09×10<sup>7</sup> || 0.480×10<sup>23</sup>
|-
| Titan || Hydrocarbons || 7.16×10<sup>10</sup> || 8.33×10<sup>7</sup> || 1.345×10<sup>23</sup>
|-
| Ganymede || Filler || 7.66×10<sup>10</sup> || 8.72×10<sup>7</sup> || 1.482×10<sup>23</sup>
|-
| Callisto || Filler || 5.87×10<sup>10</sup> || 7.30×10<sup>7</sup> || 1.076×10<sup>23</sup>
|-
|}

If all of these moons were lumped together, the total volume of “Randall's planet” would be 2.48×10<sup>11</sup> km<sup>3</sup>, assuming no further material compaction, with a surface area of 1.91×10<sup>8</sup> km<sup>2</sup>. This is about 1½ times the volume of Mars, or roughly a 15% larger diameter. The combined mass, however, is smaller than that of Mars.

The title text takes it further, treating asteroids as a “to-taste” ingredient in this “recipe”, treating it more like preparing a food dish rather than making a new {{w|Mars}}-sized planet.

There are a number of science fiction works that posit that advanced alien civilizations left puzzles in the solar system for future humans to solve. Examples for this trope would be {{w|Pushing Ice)) by Alastair Reynolds or {{w|Rogue Moon}} by Algis Budrys. The Arthur C. Clarke stories {{w|The Sentinel (short story)|The Sentinel}}, {{w|Encounter in the Dawn}} (and the more well-known {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (novel)|book}} and {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey|film}} treatments that together they later helped inspire) each feature various different partial treatments of this concept.

==Transcript==
:[A planet is shown with several different features like oceans and large lakes as well as and craters. It seems like the continent is fused together from five different segments, with cracks between where there is either ocean or rivers. There are four labels above the planet with lines going down to different areas of the planet, but not necessarily pointing to any particular part on the surface, but rather to the entire planet:]
:Sulfur chemistry from Io
:Cool oceans from Europa
:Hydrocarbons from Titan
:Ganymede and Callisto (filler)

:[Caption beneath the panel:]
:Scientists now think the five biggest outer solar system moons are actually just ingredients; we're supposed to combine them to create a single Mars-sized planet that's cooler than any of them.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Food]] <!-- Title is ingredients and the title text talks about adding to taste, making it seem like this is a recipe for food-->